What is ASIC and how does it differ from FPGA?

[Alwaleed2]

What is ASIC ? what diffrent between it and FPGA ?
can I program it at home , Is it easy to use and learn?

 

[waranp]

What is ASIC ?

ASIC is the abbreviation of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits. The main difference btween ASIC and FPGA is that ASIC is object to silicon chip. You can not program it at home, for it is different from programing. ASIC design needs EDA software such as Synopsys software, IC foundries' support. It is not difficult if you decide to become an IC engineer.

 

[naveen reddy]

Re: What is ASIC ?

ASIC is application specific integrated circuits

the main difference between asic and fpga is
asic chips are used for specific applications or functionality

where as fpga chip can be programmed as per the requirement
i.e its functionality can be changed

you can learn asic in your home with some assistance

bye

 

[arunragavan]

What is ASIC ?

well an ASIC and FPGA differs basically for the fact that an ASIC is OTP.. and FPGA can be programmed and reprogrammed several times..
nowadays FPGA manufacturers are devlopin chips which can match the speed and functionality of ASICs.. high speed low power consuming FPGAs are the order of the day.. most ppl use FPGAs for prototypin before actually explorin the posibilities with an ASIC..

with regards,
arun

 

[trilogy]

Re: What is ASIC ?

FPGA -field programmable gate array is a really cool stuff, before fabricating u can test ur circuits by just downlaoding them on a FPGA kit and testing them. ASIC on the other side are integrated circcits designed specifically for an ad-hoc purpose- dsp , filters etc. ASIC unlikely fpgs dont have limitations on random interconnections and totally designer defined

 

[anjali]

Re: What is ASIC ?

i can explain in usage perspective.

ASIC requires more NRE than FPGA. so if the number of chips required is less, then people prefer to implemnt the design in FPGA. if the number of chips required is more, then ASIC is preferred.

but cost per chip is more if the implenetation is in FPGA than ASIC.

 

[Alles Gute]

What is ASIC ?

This might be stupid question but I want to know know the answer:
Is FPGA rewritable? if "yes", how many times can it be?
Except the physical difference between a FPGA and an ASIC chip. Do they have the same design procedure? (xHDL programming, synthesizing ...)

 

[goalied00d]

Re: What is ASIC ?

FPGA's lose their functionality when they lose power. Kind of like RAM losing memory when it loses power. So the FPGA "program" or instructions are loaded onto a ROM and the FPGA fetches the instructions from this ROM everytime it is powered up.

 

[kermit]

Re: What is ASIC ?

This might be stupid question but I want to know know the answer:
Is FPGA rewritable? if "yes", how many times can it be?
Except the physical difference between a FPGA and an ASIC chip. Do they have the same design procedure? (xHDL programming, synthesizing ...)

The FPGA ofcourse is rewritable! And most FPGA are configurable because the real function are impleted just like a RAM. The configurable data are stored in RAM. SO if the system is power off, they must be re configured. And the configure data can be stored in FLASH through mcu donwload to FPGA or in E2PROM just like FPGA vendor stated .

The design procedure of frontend design almost is the same. SPEC -> RTL coding -> SYN. BUT for ASIC the backend is very important. They must think about Clock tree, SI, IR drop. And also they must do DRC(design rule check ) and LVS to keep the design can be processed by foundries.

 

[arunragavan]

What is ASIC ?

yeah FPGAs are rewritable..yeah they are volitle..as explained similarly like RAM which looses its contence. i do understand they can be reprogrammed any times (SPLICE/SRAM method of programming)..ive the same question as alles gute..

how many times an FPGA be programmed?

like in number of times it can be reprogrammed. i guess this is what alles was askin..

with regards,
arun

 

[beckchm]

Re: What is ASIC ?

I think ASIC is the design method !

The digital circuit design consists of several methods , including ASIC and FPGA.

 

[skakz]

Re: What is ASIC ?

FPGA is not rewritable if u sperate it from it;s kit it will lose it's design
when u have a stable design u go to a company which burns ur design on ASIC
so u have a chip with ur design and the package u need
offcourse it's not cheap at all

 

[anjali]

Re: What is ASIC ?

when u have a stable design u go to a company which burns ur design on ASIC

it's not burning but it's fabrication.

 

[rmy]

What is ASIC ?

ASIC is a Application specific integrated circuit means a circuit designed for a particular application which cannot be reconfigured.

 

[alexz]

Re: What is ASIC ?

Aslo, ASIC is preferred over FPGA when a design consists more of the analog then digital stuff

 

[zhangpengyu]

What is ASIC ?

ASIC means application specific integrated circuits,at last you should tapout.
while FPGA ,you should just synthsis your codes into FPGA.

 

[kumar_eee]

Re: What is ASIC ?

Hi,
ASIC is nothing but Application Specific Integrated Circuits.... For that u have to invest more.... The max frequency u can get in ASIC is 2GHz...But in FPGA u can get only 500MHz....

K.Kumar

 

[beckchm]

Re: What is ASIC ?

ASIC describes a design flow .

FPGA is another design methodlogy

 

[vaibhavarora]

Re: What is ASIC ?

ASIC is Application-Specific Integrated Circuits.
the name implies its function

 

[shreeks]

Re: What is ASIC ?

I would call it for Performance & Cost. Those who primarily look for speed and can afford the cost with large vol of production go for ASIC. While those who cannot afford the Cost of Real Specific Silicon go for FPGA. FPGA's are primarily looked up as an emulator or validation platform for ASIC in Industry. Not at all for large volume production.
Refer Smith's Book on ASIC; he calls an FPGA an ASIC once programmed.

Added after 6 minutes:

I think ASIC is the design method !

The digital circuit design consists of several methods , including ASIC and FPGA.

You are wrong here. ASIC stands for one category of IC's, not for any methodology, so do FPGA.
Designing an FPGA has a methodology which is slightly different from that of so called real taped out ASIC's. Real taped out ASIC involves lot of intensive back-end activities, while its relatively less in FPGA's.