A new breed of design methodology, called Structured ASICs, and Platform ASICs, is answering the needs of hardware designers who are currently choosing between the compromises of FPGA and the cost and effort of cell-based ASIC design platforms. These new methodologies enable designers to build system on a chip devices rivaling ASIC performance at a fraction of the cost of FPGAs, and with a shorter design turnaround time than standard cell ASICs.
This tutorial will focus on the technical and methodology details of both Structured and Platform ASICs across multiple vendors, and will demonstrate these concepts with two leading devices architectures: NEC Electronics' Instant Solution Silicon Platform (ISSP) Structured ASIC architecture, and LSI Logic's RapidChip Platform ASIC device. The tutorial will also demonstrate the customized software flows used by both NEC Electronics' and LSI Logic to address issues in Structured and Platform ASIC design that are different from cell-based ASIC design.
At the tutorial's conclusion, attendees will have the information they need to accurately judge the competitive advantages afforded to them by using a Structured and / or Platform ASIC solution in their next project.
A new breed of design methodology, called Structured ASICs, and Platform ASICs, is answering the needs of hardware designers who are currently choosing between the compromises of FPGA and the cost and effort of cell-based ASIC design platforms. These new methodologies enable designers to build system on a chip devices rivaling ASIC performance at a fraction of the cost of FPGAs, and with a shorter design turnaround time than standard cell ASICs.