Have you heard about FPGAs but find the concept confusing or intimidating? As an integrated circuit technology, FPGAs have become essential in many advanced systems – but what exactly are they and what can you use them for?
I will answer these questions and more in this beginner‘s guide to FPGAs! We‘ll explore what makes them different, how they work, where they are applied, and how as an aspiring programmer or designer you can get started with them.
What is an FPGA?
Let‘s break this down piece by piece.
Field Programmable – This means they can be configured or "programmed" by the user right in the field – no fabrication plant required. Unlike other chips that get hard-wired during manufacturing, an FPGA‘s function can change anytime.
Gate arrays – These contain prebuilt arrays of logic gates – the fundamental building blocks of digital circuits. The gates connect in flexible ways.
By combining these two concepts, an FPGA gives immense freedom to customize hardware behavior using software after it has already been deployed in the field!
But how does one go about programming software into a physical chip? This is done using hardware description languages (HDLs) like VHDL or Verilog to specify digital circuits that map to the FPGA‘s gate array architecture.
So in summary, an FPGA allows implementing custom hardware circuits through software – no wonder it has been called the "programmable silicon" revolution!
Why are FPGAs Useful?
The best way to appreciate FPGAs is to compare them to other computing components like CPUs and GPUs.
Those traditional processors are designed for general purpose sequential tasks. But an FPGA can directly translate software behavior into gates and wires that operate in parallel to match that behavior exactly!
This specialized parallel architecture makes FPGAs blazing fast for target applications. The custom circuits run algorithms with much lower latency and power consumption than software executed sequentially on CPUs or GPUs.
Furthermore, the field programmability enables modifying functions through code rather than multi-month chip re-fabrication cycles. This adaptability accelerates innovation cycles tremendously.
As you will see, these capabilities have catalyzed FPGAs into many mission-critical technologies we rely on everyday!
The Evolution of FPGAs
Let‘s trace the journey of FPGAs over the past few decades:
1984 – Xilinx co-founders Ross Freeman and Bernard Vonderschmitt invented the first FPGA architecture, founding Xilinx to commercialize it
1985 – Xilinx introduced their first FPGA, the XC2064, implementing equivalent of 20 logic gates
1986 – Competitor Altera brought the industry’s first CMOS based FPGA to market soon after
1990 – FPGA capacity grew enormously enabling wider adoption beyond simple glue logic
1995 – FPGAs implemented over 25,000 logic gates as process technology enabled higher densities
2000 – With capacity exceeding 2 million gates plus hard IP blocks for functions like multiplication, FPGAs became standard for algorithm acceleration
2010 – State-of-the-art FPGAs like Xilinx Virtex 7 packed 6 billion transistors, achieving incredible performance levels leading to mainstream adoption
Today, bleeding-edge FPGAs like Xilinx Versal contain over 50 billion transistors – an astonishing growth in capacity and capabilities as shown in this summary:
| FPGA Generation | Year | Transistors | Key Capabilities Added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xilinx XC2064 | 1985 | 1200 | First commercial FPGA |
| Xilinx Virtex-II Pro | 2002 | 200 million | Processor cores, serializers |
| Xilinx Virtex UltraScale+ VU19P | 2019 | 8 billion | AI Engines, HBM interfaces |
This exponentially increasing complexity has enabled FPGAs to excel at an enormous range of applications…
The Many Uses of FPGAs
FPGAs are notoriously hard to master but enormously powerful once you do. Developers and engineers across many industries have tapped into their performance and adaptability – let‘s hear from some experts!
"In the financial sector, speed is truly the difference between profit and loss. Our trading algorithms running on FPGAs analyze market data and execute transactions far faster than software possibly could. This performance advantage makes a night and day difference to our bottom line."
– Ryan Jenkins, Algorithmic Trading Firm
"In 5G networks, enormous streams of data must get routed and processed in real-time across distributed locations. FPGAs deliver both the connectivity and parallel processing capability needed for ultra-reliable and low latency performance no traditional silicon could match."
– Layla Wu, Telecom Infrastructure Architect
"We design miniature drones where every gram matters. Tiny but mighty FPGAs give us flexible autopilot, navigation and image processing functions without the space, weight or power draw of separate components."
– Aarav Shah, Autonomous Systems Startup
As you can see, FPGAs excel at specialized tasks with extreme speed, reliability and efficiency requirements. Their unmatched performance, small form factors and field reconfigurability have secured their place for decades to come in aerospace systems, data centers, robotics, automotive, defense technologies and more applications yet to be discovered!
Getting Started with FPGAs
Now that you better understand the incredible capabilities of field programmable gate arrays, you may be inspired to learn how to unleash this versatile technology yourself!
The first step is gaining fluency in hardware description languages (HDLs) like VHDL or Verilog to describe digital logic circuits. A number of open source learning platforms are available:
- Makerchip – Browser-based learning tool for Verilog and FPGAs from Redwood EDA
- nandland – Tutorials and videos for learning VHDL and Verilog targeting FPGAs
- FPGA MOOC – Free online course on FPGA design from University of Technology Sydney
These resources feature interactive tutorials ranging from basic gates to complex arithmetic circuits and real-time clock generation.
Next, FPGA developer boards from vendors like Xilinx and Intel (formerly Altera) allow you to directly test your HDL on actual hardware, not just in simulation. These hands-on projects will build your experience with writing synthesizeable code and debugging errors.
Finally, participating in open communities like the Open Source FPGA Foundation accelerates your FPGAsavviness through collaborating on meaningful real-world projects.
The path requires dedication but offers immense rewards in cutting-edge skills and career opportunities. I wish you the very best in harnessing the power of FPGAs!
