Unlike ASICs, which are produced for a specific application, FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) devices are integrated circuits that can be programmed to accomplish different functions, in accordance with the uploaded configuration achieved through Hardware Description Language (HDL). The design flow for programming FPGAs can be considered similar to that for designing ASICs. However, FPGA programming is easier than ASIC design, thanks to the structured programmable matrix architecture. On the other hand, ASICs can truly achieve much better performance than FPGAs in terms of speed, clock frequency, power consumption and cost per unit.
In addition to the reconfigurable logic, modern FPGAs integrate hard macros (as RAM, DSP, math IPs, PLL, ADC, DAC, …) in order to add facilities and allow designers building complex and fully featured systems on one FPGA.
Our activity on FPGAs consists of two main aspects: the first is the ASIC pre-prototyping and IP developing in order to validate both RTL and device functionalities before the implementation on a specific IC. This kind of activity is useful for our industrial partners that aim to develop ASIC prototypes. The second is developing and testing algorithms directly on hardware to prove performance and cost of resources.
