Minimum operating temperature CW305

Trunyx · June 17, 2026, 8:17am

Hi,

I want to run a CW305 in a temperature chamber, especially at low temperatures. I have found an earlier post on operating temperatures but the answer was not conclusive.
I also can’t seem to find the production grade of the FPGA just from reading the label.

So I just wanted to ask the grade (e.g., commercial, industrial) of the included FPGA (Artix 100T) or any anecdotal evidence how low I can go before stuff breaks? Except for “logic” errors, e.g., CMOS gates get too fast and result is thus wrong, can operating outside the lower recommended temperature brick the device?

Best Regards,
Trunyx

jpthibault · June 17, 2026, 12:47pm

From our example project file you can find that the speed grade is 2:

github.com/newaetech/chipwhisperer

firmware/fpgas/aes/vivado/cw305_aes.xpr

develop


      
          <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
          <!-- Product Version: Vivado v2022.1 (64-bit)              -->
          <!--                                                         -->
          <!-- Copyright 1986-2022 Xilinx, Inc. All Rights Reserved.   -->
          
          <Project Version="7" Minor="60" Path="/home/jpnewae/git/chipwhisperer-target-fpga/aes/vivado/cw305_aes.xpr">
            <DefaultLaunch Dir="$PRUNDIR"/>
            <Configuration>
              <Option Name="Id" Val="a6fee58bac73436484b97e5c70df9006"/>
              <Option Name="Part" Val="xc7a35tftg256-2"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDir" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirXSim" Val=""/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirModelSim" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib/modelsim"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirQuesta" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib/questa"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirXcelium" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib/xcelium"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirVCS" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib/vcs"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirRiviera" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib/riviera"/>
              <Option Name="CompiledLibDirActivehdl" Val="$PCACHEDIR/compile_simlib/activehdl"/>
              <Option Name="SimulatorInstallDirModelSim" Val=""/>
              <Option Name="SimulatorInstallDirQuesta" Val=""/>

Unfortunately Xilinx does not put much useful info on the chip; you annoyingly have to use their app to take a picture of the chip in order to find out: AMD Device Lookup Support

With regards to potential device damage, have a look at the Artix 7 data sheet: AMD Technical Information Portal

and read over the “absolute maximum ratings” and “recommended operating conditions”.