FPGA Field Programmable Gate Arrays Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2012

Digital Design Today Complex systems are built using: -ASIC’s -Microcontrollers -FPGA’s -Combination of above Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2012

System on Chip - A typical ASIC chip today contains many subsystems, and performs very complex tasks. - FPGA’s are also becoming big enough to contain a whole complex system. Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2012

Micro-controller A microcontroller is a general-purpose VLSI chip containing a small microprocessor, a small amount of memory and very limited I/O capability. Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

FPGA A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a VLSI chip containing a large uniform array of Configurable Logic Blocks (CLB’s) that can be programmed to perform a user-defined task. Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

FPGA Structure

FPGA CLB

FPGA Look up Table Combinatorial logic is stored in 16x1 SRAM Look-Up Tables (LUT’s) in a CLB. Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

FPGA vs. Asic s -FPGA  They are pre-manufactured. So no need to worry (much) about physical IC design.  No fabrication time. So they are faster to develop  The non-recurring engineering cost of an FPGA design is much lower than that of an ASIC. -ASICs  They are custom-designed for your system  Generally lower power consumption and faster clock rate.  Require physical design and fabrication(very expensive)  Components are much cheaper in large production runs  Engineering costs are much higher Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

FPGA vs. Asic s vs. μ P

FPGA Design Methodology

Hardware Description Language Two major HDL’s:  VHDL  standardized by IEEE in 1987,1993, 2002, 2006  object-oriented, very widely used  Verilog  standardized by IEEE in 1995, 2001, 2005  has concise syntax like C Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

VHDL Example A Multiplier Program in VHDL Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

Verilog Example A Multiplier Program in Verilog Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

Simulation Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

Test & Debug XSA-40 FPGA Development board from XESS Inc Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

Important FPGA Manufacturers  Xilinx (  Altera (  Actel (  QuickLogic (  Lattice Semiconductor ( Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

FPGA Applications Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011

Conclusion  FPGA’s are becoming faster, denser and more capable  Using FPGA’s where it makes sense can reduce design costs and total system costs.  Use FPGA’s when:  parallelism is possible  speed matters  Integration and reliability are important Shiraz University of shiraz spring 2011