Quick Answer
What is FPGA?
An FPGA is a reconfigurable chip whose hardware logic can be programmed after manufacturing.
VLSI
FPGA
Also known as: Field Programmable Gate Array
By Glintr Editorial TeamReviewed by Glintr Learn ReviewersUpdated 5 min readArea: VLSI
Definition
Field Programmable Gate Arrays contain arrays of configurable logic blocks connected by programmable interconnects. Engineers describe the desired circuit in an HDL like Verilog or VHDL and synthesise it onto the FPGA, enabling prototyping and specialised acceleration.
Applications
- Prototyping ASIC designs
- High-frequency trading accelerators
- Signal processing in radar and 5G
- Aerospace and defense electronics
Advantages
- Reconfigurable after deployment
- Massive parallelism
- Lower NRE cost than ASICs
Limitations
- Higher unit cost than ASICs at volume
- Higher power for equivalent logic
Related Concepts
- VLSIVLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) is the design of integrated circuits that combine millions of transistors on a single chip.
- RTLRTL (Register-Transfer Level) is a hardware description that captures how data flows between registers on each clock cycle.
- SemiconductorA semiconductor is a material — typically silicon — whose conductivity can be controlled to build electronic components.
- Embedded SystemsEmbedded Systems are dedicated computing systems built into a product to perform a specific function.