Lattice ICE40LP1K-QN84: An Ultra-Low-Power FPGA for Compact, Cost-Sensitive Designs

In the rapidly evolving world of electronics, the demand for smarter, more efficient, and smaller devices continues to grow. Designers are constantly challenged to incorporate greater functionality into tighter spaces while managing power budgets and unit costs. For these applications, the Lattice ICE40LP1K-QN84 FPGA emerges as a premier solution, expertly balancing performance, power, and price.

As a member of the renowned iCE40 UltraPlus™ family, this device is engineered from the ground up for ultra-low-power operation. Its core is optimized for power-sensitive applications, making it an ideal candidate for battery-powered devices, portable electronics, and always-on systems where every milliwatt counts. The FPGA boasts a dramatically low static power consumption, often in the microamp range, which is critical for extending battery life from days to years in many end products.

Despite its minimal power draw, the ICE40LP1K does not compromise on capability. It features 1K Look-Up Tables (LUTs) alongside a dedicated block for digital signal processing. This includes an embedded multiply-accumulate block, enabling it to handle a variety of lightweight processing and control tasks efficiently. For designs requiring interface bridging—such as converting SPI to I2C or sensor data aggregation—this FPGA provides a flexible and robust hardware platform.

The ‘QN84’ package designation is key to its appeal for compact designs. This 84-pin QFN package offers a very small footprint and a low profile, which is essential for modern, space-constrained printed circuit boards (PCBs). Its minimal size allows it to fit into places a traditional microcontroller or larger FPGA cannot, enabling more innovative industrial design.

Furthermore, Lattice Semiconductor supports this hardware with a comprehensive and user-friendly development tool suite, Lattice Radiant®. This software environment simplifies the design process with intuitive synthesis, place-and-route, and debugging tools, significantly reducing the learning curve and time-to-market for new engineers entering the FPGA space.

A significant advantage of the ICE40LP family is its cost-effectiveness. By offering a capable programmable logic device at a near-ASIC price point, it provides immense design flexibility and risk mitigation for high-volume production runs. Designers can implement custom logic, make last-minute changes, and field-update firmware without the NRE costs and lead times associated with custom ASICs.

ICGOOODFIND: The Lattice ICE40LP1K-QN84 stands out as a highly optimized FPGA, delivering an exceptional blend of ultra-low power consumption, a compact form factor, and excellent cost-efficiency. It is a powerful enabler for innovation in portable, consumer, and industrial applications where size, power, and budget are paramount.

Keywords: Ultra-Low-Power, FPGA, Cost-Sensitive, Compact Design, Lattice ICE40