[Blog] Doubling the Possibilities: Lattice Expands Small FPGA Portfolio

Designing modern embedded systems often means working within tight constraints such as limited space, low power budgets, and increasing performance demands. Whether it's powering smarter factory automation, enhancing in-vehicle intelligence, or enabling low power AI at the edge, developers need flexible, efficient, and secure programmable logic solutions.

This is why we’re excited to announce the expansion of our small FPGA portfolio with new additions to the Lattice Certus™-NX and MachXO5™-NX families. These new devices double the available options for general-purpose and secure control applications. They offer higher I/O density, more package options, and advanced reliability features, all within the industry’s smallest form factors.

Built on the award-winning Lattice Nexus™ platform, these FPGAs are designed to give developers more architectural flexibility and system-level integration capabilities while maintaining low power consumption and high performance.

What’s New in the Lattice Small FPGA Portfolio
With the latest expansion of the Certus™-NX and MachXO5™-NX families, Lattice is introducing new device options that deliver greater flexibility, performance, and integration for developers working in space- and power-constrained environments.

The newly added devices offer:

1. Expanded Device Options
   • New logic density points and package variants give developers more choices to match their application needs.
   • Ideal for designs requiring secure control, high I/O density, and low power in compact footprints.
2. Higher I/O Density and Performance
   • Up to 2X more I/O per mm² compared to similar-class FPGAs.
   • Support for 3.3V I/O and 1.5 Gbps differential I/O, enabling faster and more robust data transfer.
   • Up to 3X smaller form factor, ideal for tight board layouts.
3. Enhanced System Integration
   • Up to 4X lower power consumption, simplifying thermal design and enabling longer operating life for battery powered applications
   • No power sequencing requirements, reducing external circuitry and BOM cost.
   • Integrated flash with up to 12X faster instant-on configuration, accelerating system boot times.
4. Advanced Reliability and Security
   • Up to 100X lower soft error rate, improving reliability in safety-critical applications.
   • Built-in single error correction (SEC) and memory block ECC for protection against soft errors and SEUs.

Real-World Applications: Where These FPGAs Make a Difference
The new Certus-NX and MachXO5-NX devices offer a range of enhancements that help developers address the growing complexity of embedded system design. With significantly higher I/O density—up to twice as much per square millimeter compared to similar-class FPGAs—these devices enable more robust connectivity in compact layouts. They support 3.3V I/O and 1.5 Gbps differential signaling, which allows for faster and more flexible data transfer. These capabilities are delivered in packages that are up to three times smaller than competing solutions.

The expanded Certus-NX and MachXO5-NX families are designed to meet the needs of developers working in some of the most demanding and fast-evolving markets. Here are a few examples of how these new devices can be applied:

In Industrial automation systems, FPGAs with high I/O density and low static and dynamic power profiles are optimal for space-constrained applications such as control modules and sensor aggregation hubs. Their support for single-rail power-up and tolerance to undefined power sequencing simplifies power architecture and PCB layout. Furthermore, instant-on configuration capability enables sub-millisecond startup times, which is critical for deterministic response in latency-sensitive environments.

In Automotive applications, enhanced reliability and robust soft error mitigation mechanisms—such as ECC-protected memory blocks and configuration scrubbing—are essential for functional safety compliance in systems like advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), battery management systems (BMS), and in-vehicle networking architectures. The compact footprint of these FPGAs enables seamless integration into spatially constrained electronic control units (ECUs), while maintaining stringent performance and thermal design requirements aligned with automotive-grade operating conditions

In edge AI applications, such as smart cameras or intelligent IoT nodes, the combination of low power, fast I/O, and secure configuration enables real-time data processing at the edge. Developers can implement custom logic for AI preprocessing, encryption, or sensor fusion while maintaining a small hardware footprint.

In Communications applications, such as switches, network function virtualization, and edge computing, the combination of high 3.3V I/O, optimal logic densities and package sizes along with PCIe Gen2 capability makes these FPGAs ideal for CPU offload. Bitstream authentication and encryption features provide the capability to meet increasing security requirements.

In server deployments, these small and secure FPGAs provide hardware Root of Trust, secure boot, and inline cryptographic acceleration for data integrity and confidentiality. Their high I/O density supports multi-gigabit interfaces such as PCIe Gen2, Ethernet, etc., enabling low latency data movement and parallel processing. Compact form factors allow integration into dense server blades and NICs, while meeting stringent power and thermal constraints typical of hyperscale and edge datacenter.
These use cases highlight how the new Certus-NX and MachXO5-NX devices help developers build smarter, faster, and more reliable systems across a wide range of industries.

More Choice, More Capability
With the expansion of the Certus-NX and MachXO5-NX FPGA families, Lattice is delivering on its commitment to provide developers with more options to meet the evolving demands of modern embedded systems.

By offering greater architectural flexibility and simplifying system integration, these FPGAs empower designers to innovate faster and more efficiently. Whether you're building for performance, power efficiency, or security, the expanded Lattice Nexus FPGA portfolio gives you the tools to do more with less.

To learn more about how Lattice FPGA solutions can help you achieve your design goals and accelerate time to market, reach out to speak with the team at Lattice.