Field-Programmable Gate Arrays : Reconfigurable Logic for Rapid Prototyping and Implementation of Digital Systems
Timely, authoritative, application-oriented an in-depth exploration of current and future uses of FPGAs in digital systems The development of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may well be the most important breakthrough for the microelectronics industry since the invention of the microprocessor. Using FPGAs, a system designer working on a PC can now develop a working prototype in a few hours and change it at will in just a few minutes, rather than waiting weeks or months for a printed-circuit assembly or a custom integrated circuit to be built. This newfound ability to change a system by simply altering its configuration memory is also leading to exciting new forms of computing, such as array applications that exploit parallelism. Now in a book that functions equally well as a working professional reference and a pedagogically consistent computer engineering text, John V. Oldfield and Richard C. Dorf:Provide a detailed overview of FPGAs in digital systems designExplain the underlying principles, strengths, and limitations of most FPGA architecturesSupply many real-life case studies, from elementary to advanced applications - including examples of "custom computing machines"Review cutting-edge developments, including new architectures and a new field-programmable interconnect chipDiscuss key economic and business aspects of FPGA manufacture and applications and their role in intellectual property protectionDemonstrate ways in which FPGAs offer plausible solutions to some of the major computing problems of our day
Why Read This Book
You should read this book if you want a compact, engineering-focused introduction to FPGA technology and how FPGAs changed prototyping and system design workflows; it explains core architecture and implementation trade-offs that remain relevant. It also gives early treatments of reconfigurable/array-style computing that help you think about mapping parallel algorithms to hardware.
Who Will Benefit
Intermediate FPGA designers, hardware engineers, and students who need a conceptual grounding in FPGA architectures and prototyping workflows or want historical perspective on how modern tool flows evolved.
Level: Intermediate — Prerequisites: Basic digital logic (gates, flip-flops, combinational/sequential design) and familiarity with HDL concepts (VHDL/Verilog familiarity helpful but not strictly required).
Key Takeaways
- Explain the main FPGA architectures (SRAM-based, anti-fuse, CPLD-style) and their implications for design and prototyping.
- Assess trade-offs between logic blocks, routing, configuration memory, and I/O when selecting devices for a project.
- Map digital functions and parallel algorithms onto FPGA resources to exploit concurrency and pipeline opportunities.
- Implement common prototyping flows: design entry, synthesis, place-and-route, and device configuration in the context of mid-90s toolchains (principles remain applicable).
- Use case-study examples to reason about performance, area, and reconfigurability when architecting FPGA-based systems.
Topics Covered
- 1. Introduction: The Rise of Field-Programmable Gate Arrays
- 2. Overview of Programmable Logic Devices (PALs, PLAs, CPLDs)
- 3. FPGA Architectures: Logic Blocks, Interconnect, and Configuration Memory
- 4. Routing, Switch Fabrics, and On-chip Interconnect Trade-offs
- 5. Embedded Memory, Dedicated Resources, and I/O Structures
- 6. Design Methodologies and Prototyping Workflows
- 7. Hardware Description Languages and Synthesis (VHDL/Verilog overview)
- 8. Case Studies: Implementing Digital Systems in FPGAs
- 9. Reconfigurable and Array Computing Applications
- 10. Tools, Programming, and Testing FPGAs
- 11. Performance, Power, and Cost Considerations
- 12. Future Directions and Emerging Applications (as seen in mid-1990s)
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
Older and more architecture-focused than modern hands-on texts such as Pong P. Chu's FPGA Prototyping books; covers similar foundational ground to Wayne Wolf's FPGA-based System Design but predates vendor toolchain advances and modern device families.
