What is the FPGA and FPGA programming technology?
FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), that is, field programmable gate array, it is a product of further development on the basis of programmable devices such as PAL, GAL, CPLD and so on. It appears as a semi-custom circuit in the field of application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), which not only solves the shortcomings of custom circuits, but also overcomes the shortcomings of the limited number of gates of the original programmable devices.
With the development of artificial intelligence and embedded industry, many industry terms have become more and more familiar, and what we are talking about today is FPGA, but what exactly is FPGA? What are its advantages? Many people are not so clear.
What is FPGA?
So-called FPGA, short for "Field Programmable Gate Array". It is a cheap device that developers can use their personal PCs to realize the functions they want on a short time, and they can be rewritten many times.
In fact, FPGA has been supported by most users worldwide. In 2005, in a survey report provided by isuppli, two of the top five in the world were FPGA vendors in the sales ranking of ASIC and PLD (including FPGA programmable products). In the industry, XILINX ranks first in the world, IBM ranks second in the world, and Altera ranks fourth in the world.
Birth background
Xilinx pioneered the innovative technology of FPGA, and first launched the commercial product "XC2000" in 1985.
At that time, semiconductor devices were dominated by CMOS LSI, and large-scale logic systems appeared one after another. "Gate array" was the easiest way to LSI logic system. The gate array refers to a semi-customized chip that has been prepared by a semiconductor manufacturer and has formed a logic gate called a basic unit on a silicon wafer, and is wired according to a circuit desired by a user to form a circuit on the motherboard. Although it is the shortest cost and cycle of design and development in ASIC, it still takes several weeks of development time.
On the other hand, the field programmable device PLA derived from PROM is widely used. PLA is a logic device, and the user performs on-site (application field) programming. PLA is a logic LSI characterized by an integrated structure. It can write connection information through the same device as the PROM program. Then, new devices such as EPROM and EEPROM appeared one after another, and they were very popular because they were practical and easy to use. However, it is still difficult to freely implement arbitrary large-scale logic, and they can only play an auxiliary role.
In the early days of FPGA, computer researchers were the first to feel the great advantages of FPGA. Before this, in order to realize the design idea of a new computer body architecture, an ASIC must be developed as a prototype, and many bulky ICs must be installed on the panel. However, unlike these methods that require a huge cost and effort, once the user creates a prototype board with multiple FPGAs, you can immediately run the new architecture you designed. Moreover, it is easy to modify and change the specifications. Therefore, many new architectures came into being. Therefore, the research on reconfigurable processors and the research on new FPGA architectures have also begun to flourish. After this, FPGAs are flexible in use and have strong applicability in the field of communication/image processing. It has also been well received and applied to various devices in communication networks such as routers.
About FPGA programming technology
In early 2000, SRAM was the mainstream FPGA programming technology at that time, in addition to various other types of FPGA programming technology.
In the late 1980s, a technology with a different concept from SRAM FPGA appeared, which is called "fuse technology" (anti-fuse technology). In fuse technology, the connection point of a circuit is a fuse, and a loop is formed by burning the fuse. An anti-fuse element is a storage element that can only be programmed once. Once programmed, it turns on with low impedance. It is said that it is more compact than SRAM devices and can achieve high-speed operation with high integration and low impedance. The disadvantage of fuse technology (anti-fuse technology) is that it cannot be rewritten and cannot be used repeatedly. In addition, the price that is difficult to reduce is also its disadvantage.
At the same time, another new device "CPLD" was released. This is a PLD formed by integrating multiple small PLDs into one LSI, which can realize any large-scale logic circuit. As with small-scale PLDs, non-volatile and rewritable ease of use are the biggest characteristics of CPLDs. However, CPLD is not as good as FPGA in design freedom.
In the 1990s, "FLASH FPGA" using Flash memory appeared. Flash FPGAs have both SRAM technology and anti-fuse technology, namely rewrite and non-volatile. However, due to its complicated structure and manufacturing process, it is difficult to increase the integration level and reduce the price. Therefore, Flash is basically not used in large-scale, high-speed FPGA operation.
Architecture of FPGA and PLD
SRAM-based FPGAs and CPLDs are currently the mainstream technology. High-speed and large-scale applications use SRAM-based FPGAs, which are most suitable for CPLDs that do not require high-speed and large-scale applications. Either way, it has the advantages of simple manufacture and cheap price.
FPGA design is not a simple chip research, mainly to use FPGA mode to design products in other industries. Unlike ASICs, FPGAs are widely used in the communications industry. Through the analysis of the global FPGA product market and related suppliers, combined with the actual situation in my country and the domestic leading FPGA products, we can find the future development direction of related technologies, which has a very important role in promoting the overall improvement of my country's technological level.
If you want to know more, our website has product specifications for FPGA programming technology, you can go to ALLICDATA ELECTRONICS LIMITED to get more information