Design your way out of a chip shortage?

The current chip shortage is causing engineers to think creatively about how to overcome component supply issues. One solution is device emulation, which involves replacing multiple discrete integrated circuits using a single programmable device such as a microcontroller, CPLD, or FPGA. The choice of which part to use for emulation depends on the cost and performance requirements of the application.


According to Shakeel Peera, associate vice president of Microchip’s FPGA business unit, if the application requires low-level sequential processing with tolerance for a certain amount of latency or has many state-machine-based control structures and needs to consume very low power, then an MCU might be the best choice. For more intensive applications, an FPGA may be the better option as they offer a high level of integration with power-efficient parallel processing and complex I/O.


Using a programmable device can also improve time-to-market and lower non-recurring engineering costs. Microchip’s Libero SoC tool suite can manage the synthesis and place-and-route involved in FPGA design, and can also work with C/C++ code to remove or reduce the need for RTL understanding.


Another way to avoid supply chain issues is to accommodate multiple, alternative parts on the PCB. While designing a PCB to accommodate multiple MCU footprints can be challenging and costly, it adds flexibility.


Overall, the current chip shortage is providing valuable intelligence that may influence the strategies that OEMs put in place over the next 12 to 18 months. Engineers are being forced to think creatively and consider alternatives such as device emulation and accommodating multiple, alternative parts on the PCB to overcome component supply issues. 

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