FPGA basic




Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are finding prominence in many applications such as complex signal processing, communication, networking and control systems. FPGAs have surpassed the ASICs by increasing gate counts by more than three orders of magnitude since their inception about two decades ago. Also, they have added high-speed I/Os, embedded memories, dedicated Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs), and embedded processors. An important aspect of FPGAs is the availability of pre-designed circuit blocks in the form of Intellectual Property (IP) that designers can license and integrate into their system. FPGA based system design is finding its place in many fields such as medical, automotive, industrial, commercial and military. FPGAs support reconfigurability of complex digital designs, multicore processors, DSP and communication block sets along with debugging capabilities. However, many of the current designs get implemented on microcontrollers and ASICs. One of the reasons for this is the lack of awareness and ease of working with the FPGA software and hardware tools. In order to exploit the capabilities of FPGAs and to develop complex applications with reduced time, it is required to understand and practice the correct methodology and follow the guidelines while working with FPGAs. Engineers need to know the shortcuts and industry practices for successfully designing applications using FPGAs. Also it is required to understand the software solutions and tools available for designing and debugging FPGAs. There is a frequent need to develop customized boards using FPGAs. This seminar is one such event which introduces and demonstrates the best practices of FPGA in industry.