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What this article shares with you is about the basic knowledge of FPGA architecture and application. The editor thinks it is very practical, so I share it with you to learn. I hope you can get something after reading this article.

FPGA stands for Field Programmable Gate Array, which is a semiconductor logic chip that can be programmed into almost any type of system or digital circuit, similar to PLD. PLD is limited to a few hundred doors, but FPGA supports thousands of doors. The configuration of the FPGA architecture is usually specified in a language, that is, HDL (hardware description language), which is similar to the language used for ASIC (application specific integrated circuits).

FPGA provides many advantages over fixed-function ASIC technologies, such as standard cells. Typically, ASIC takes months to build, and they will cost thousands of dollars to get the device. However, the FPGA takes less than a second to make, and costs range from a few dollars to a thousand dollars. The flexibility of FPGA greatly reduces cost, power consumption and latency. Compared with the standard unit ASIC, FPGA requires 20 to 35 times the area and 3 to 4 times slower than ASIC. This paper introduces the basic knowledge of FPGA and FPGA architecture module, including I / O pad, logic block and switch matrix. FPGA is some of the emerging trend areas of VLSI.

FPGA architecture

The generic FPGA architecture consists of three types of modules. They are I / O blocks or pads, switch matrices / interconnects, and configurable logic blocks (CLB). The basic FPGA architecture has a two-dimensional logic block array with means for users to arrange interconnections between logical blocks. The functions of the FPGA architecture module are discussed below:

CLB (Configurable Logic Block) includes digital logic, input and output. It implements user logic.

The interconnect provides the direction between logical blocks to implement user logic.

According to logic, the switch matrix provides switching between interconnections.

I / O pads for the outside world communicate with different applications.

The logic block contains MUX (multiplexer), D trigger and LUT. LUT implements the function of combinational logic; MUX is used for selection logic, and D trigger stores the output of LUT.

The basic construction module of FPGA is a function generator based on look-up table. The input number of LUT changed from 3 to 4, and even changed to 8 after the experiment. Now we have adaptive LUT, which provides two outputs per LUT and implements two function generators.

Xilinx Virtex-5 is the most popular FPGA, which contains a lookup table (LUT) connected to MUX and a trigger as described above. The current FPGA consists of about hundreds or thousands of configurable logic blocks. For configuring FPGA,Modelsim and Xilinx ISE software for generating bitstream files and for development.

Application-based FPGA type

Field programmable gate arrays are divided into three categories based on low-end FPGA, mid-range FPGA and high-end FPGA applications.

Low-end FPGA

These types of FPGA are designed for low power consumption, low logic density and low complexity per chip. Examples of low-end FPGA are Altera's Cyclone series, Xilinx's Spartan series, Microsemi's fusion series and Ledith semiconductor's Mach XO / ICE40.

Mid-range FPGA

These types of FPGA are the best solution between low-end and high-end FPGA, and they are developed to strike a balance between performance and cost. Examples of mid-range FPGA are Arria from Altera, Artix-7 / Kintex-7 series from Xlinix, IGL002 from Microsemi and ECP3 from Ledith Semiconductor and ECP5 series from Ledith Semiconductor.

High-end FPGA

These types of FPGA are developed for logical density and high performance. Examples of high-end FPGA include Altera's Stratix series, Xilinx's Virtex series, Achronix's Speedster 22i series and Microsemi's ProASIC3 series.

Application of FPGA:

FPGA has grown rapidly over the past decade because they are suitable for a wide range of applications. The specific applications of FPGA include digital signal processing, bioinformatics, device controller, software defined radio, random logic, ASIC prototype design, medical imaging, computer hardware simulation, integration of multiple SPLD, speech recognition, encryption, filtering and communication coding, etc.

Typically, FPGA is reserved for specific vertical applications with low production. For these small batch applications, top companies pay per unit of hardware cost. Today, new performance dynamics and costs expand the scope of feasible applications.

Some of the more common FPGA applications include: aerospace and defense, medical electronics, ASIC prototypes, audio, automotive, broadcasting, consumer electronics, distributed monetary systems, data centers, high performance computing, industrial, medical, scientific instruments, security systems, video and image processing, wired communications, wireless communications.

The above is what the basic knowledge of FPGA architecture and application is, and the editor believes that there are some knowledge points that we may see or use in our daily work. I hope you can learn more from this article. For more details, please follow the industry information channel.

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