Is the Future going towards FPGA's ?

[pavanks]

Hello ASIC's frnds,

I am a ASIC designer and very much concerned on a article on EE times abt the companies moving towards FPGA's.
Plese give ur feedback on this.
Will ASIC remain and continue in future.

Thank u for all ur inputs in advance.

 

[embedsys]

off cource.. but i can say the future goes towards FPGA also/too..
mainly FPGAs are best for any custom design.. most importantly for Defence and security sectors..
being a digital engineer, i am telling you to be proud to be an ASIC designer.
but dont think i gave up. we are also part of future (say commercial)..

 

[ljxpjpjljx]

now FPGA becomes more powerful! but I think in some field FPGA can't substitute for ASIC!

 

[pavanks]

How much time do u guys think there is for ASIC before FPGA will take over

 

[yadavvlsi]

FPGA can't give performance comparable to ASIC. FPGA can't take over ASICs. FPGA can be used for prototype only not for bulk production. ASICs much cheaper than FPGA when produced in the bulk.
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/209147/#3
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/209794/#5
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/215847/

 

[vid31]

FPGA can be good in testing an application but when it comes to cost effectiveness FPGA fails....

 

[pavanks]

FPGA can't give performance comparable to ASIC. FPGA can't take over ASICs. FPGA can be used for prototype only not for bulk production. ASICs much cheaper than FPGA when produced in the bulk.
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/209147/#3
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/209794/#5
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/215847/

Do u see any changes as i feel there are now many FPGA companies than ASIC companies. Now as u have 28nm FPGA, does this impact the ASIC as the technology goes further down?

 

[yadavvlsi]

There are hundreds of ASIC compnies in INDIA only but there are few companies that make FPGAs like Xilinx and altera.
https://www.edaboard.com/threads/85742/
FPGA is also a type of ASIC. NO doubt FPGAs now days are very powerful. They have inbuilt processor etc. but FPGA can't give performance comparable to ASICs. Because interconnects in a FGPA are not optimized. Logic you burn in FGPA is also not optimized compared to ASIC. In FPGA you have limited resources.

 

[soloktanjung]

Gavrielov is a firm believer that ASIC has had its day and the future belongs to ASSP and FPGA. "In a few years, it’s just going to be ASSPs and FPGAs," he says, "ASICs are going to disappear."

"The barriers to doing ASICs, technically and financially, are becoming almost insurmountable," says Gavrielov, "and, by definition, if they don’t hit first time they miss half the market and, if they miss twice, they miss all the market."

Source: 28nm will be a fabulous node, says Gavrielov - 10/24/2011 - Electronics Weekly

---------- Post added at 17:32 ---------- Previous post was at 17:13 ----------

More discussion.

A more accurate explanation for why FPGAs have become drivers of process technology is not just their lower cost compared to ASICs, but also because of the advantages that can be derived from their cost-performance. Today’s most advanced applications require the higher performance and functional density that only smaller geometry transistors can deliver. FPGAs are now leading the way in providing more designers with the earliest access to the benefits of advanced process nodes, while mitigating the cost of custom tooling.

Two performance areas where FPGAs often surpass ASIC solutions are the integration of specialized Digital Signal Processing (DSP[]) functions and high-speed Input-Output (I/O) interfaces. For example, Altera Corporation recently rolled out a new signal integrity development kit for the Stratix V GX FPGA, which provides designers with access to 28 nm technology. You can use the Stratix V GX Serializer-Deserializer (SERDES) to develop transceiver links for high-bandwidth applications ranging from 600 Mbps to 12.5 Gbps. Users of the kit can verify compliance with popular communication protocol standards, including 10 GbE; 10GBASE-KR; PCI Express (PCIe) Gen1, Gen2 and Gen3; Serial RapidIO; Gigabit Ethernet (GbE); 10 GbE XAUI; CEI-6G; CEI-11G; HD-SDI; Interlaken; and Fibre Channel.

Source: **broken link removed**

 

[barry]

High volume==>ASIC
Low volume ==>FPGA

Also, if you need field upgrades, can't do that with ASIC, regardless of volume.