ABSTRACT
FPGAs have other types of hardware, in addition to those with RAMs. Thus, hardware of FPGAs consists of PLDs, logic gates, random-access memory, and often other types of components such as nonvolatile memory. FPGAs from different manufacturers have different organization of PLDs, logic gates, random-access memory, and other types of components. In other words, different manufacturers have FPGAs in different architectures, but all of them have the same common feature: that the layout of a unit is repeated in matrix form. In this case, the unit is a circuit consisting of PLDs, logic gates, randomaccess memory, and other types of components that is far more complex than “gates” which are repeated in matrix in gate arrays. Logic networks realized in FPGAs are slower by two or three orders of magnitude than those realized in full-custom design, but are much faster by several orders than simulation of logic functions by software. Even application programs can be run on FPGAs and perform much faster than on general-purpose computer in many cases.
