Case Study: Signalcrafters Tech achieves 50% FPGA cost reduction and meets design goals with Synopsys Synplify FPGA design tools

Signalcrafters Achieves Design Goals and Cuts FPGA Cost by 50% in its FPGA-for-DSP Solution with Synplify FPGA Design Tools

Signalcrafters, a maker of test and calibration equipment for power utilities, redesigned its Model 120 to move multiple DSP functions into a single FPGA to meet demanding performance and cost goals. Their original DSP and vendor FPGA synthesis tools produced incorrect filter behavior and prevented the design from working despite extensive debugging.

Switching to Synopsys Synplify Pro (with Synplify DSP/Synphony MC planned for the flow) solved the correctness issues immediately, reduced FPGA area by 25% (cutting FPGA costs by about 50%), enabled a clean Simulink-to-RTL flow, and allowed the Model 120 to tape out on schedule—delivering both development time savings and a scalable path for future FPGA-for-DSP products.

Signalcrafters Tech

Alan Jayson

Product Engineer