|
FROM THE EDITOR
This week we’ve completely overhauled our Archives
section with topical as well as chronological indexing and new,
improved search capability courtesy of Google. Let us know how you
like it.
Our first new feature article this week is a message
from our readers. We’ve known for awhile that new designers are
streaming into the FPGA domain at an incredible rate. Our “Engineers
Speak Out” feature has a summary and excerpts from your
responses to our “What’s
Your Persona” article from a few weeks back. We were surprised
by the robustness of your replies, and what we learned made us even
more optimistic about the future of FPGA design. (Is that
possible?)
Our second
new feature comes from Sanjay Bali of Mentor Graphics. Sanjay
discusses the application of physical synthesis techniques to
complex FPGA design. With the growing complexity of programmable
logic projects, the application of physical synthesis is rapidly
moving from bonus to mandate.
Thanks for reading! If
there's anything we can do to make our publications more useful to
you, please let us know at: comments@fpgajournal.com
Kevin
Morris – Editor
FPGA and Programmable Logic
Journal |
|
EVENTS
Register
for Altera's SOPC World 2004 Today!
Experience detailed technical sessions on
embedded processing, high-speed design, DSP, and
leveraging direct memory access. PLUS: Explore live demos
from Altera and its partners and see Altera's roadmap. Click
here for more
information. |
Industry-Leading
Embedded Processor Workshops! Learn how to use
Xilinx® technology to develop embedded software applications,
architect a PowerPC™-based system, and more during three
exciting Memec Insight workshops, beginning October 5.
Specially priced development boards and software exclusively
for attendees. Click
here.
| | |
Engineers Speak Out
The
Voice of the FPGA Design Community
A few weeks ago, in our “What’s
your Persona?” feature article, we discussed the fact that Xilinx is
creating new divisions for DSP and embedded processing. We speculated that
the idea of focusing on specific categories of new potential FPGA
customers, creating groups inside the FPGA company that understand the
design challenges and speak the technical jargon of each emerging
subculture, would be a compelling strategy.
We then decided to test that theory by asking you to drop
us a line telling us about yourself.
The response was both fascinating and overwhelming.
We heard from the people we expected to hear from. We
heard from the people we didn’t expect to hear from. We heard from people
we never even heard of. We heard many things we expected to hear and many
things that we never considered. What we can now conclude is that the
situation in the ASIC and FPGA market is even more interesting and complex
than we’d imagined. The responses also make us believe that programmable
logic is likely to dominate the digital design domain over the next
decade. [more]
Does
Single-pass Physical Synthesis Work for FPGAs?
by Sanjay Bali, Product Marketing Manager
Design Creation and Synthesis Division, Mentor Graphics
Corp.
As mask prices and NRE costs rise to exorbitant levels,
the ASIC route becomes increasingly unrealistic for many applications,
especially in low- to medium-volume production quantities. Design starts
using ASICs have plummeted from a high of over 11,000 in 1997 to below
4,000 in 2003 (Source: Gartner Dataquest). With the advent of innovative
FPGA architectures incorporating embedded processors, memory blocks and
DSP functions, many designers who depended on ASIC methodologies are
turning to FPGAs for new generations of complex designs. The problem is
that, increasingly, these designers are the same person, i.e., one day
they are designing an ASIC and the next month they may target an
FPGA. There are key differences between the two types of silicon
platforms that mandate specific features in the EDA tools you need to
develop and implement the latest generation of FPGAs. This paper will make
a case with respect to advances in the physical synthesis space. [more]
|
ANNOUNCEMENTS
| Discover how Nexar reduces your FPGA
system development time with Altium's LiveDesign Evaluation
Kit: Explore the benefits of running real software on
real hardware in real time. Have an FPGA- based embedded
system up and running in minutes for only US$99*! Altium's
LiveDesign Evaluation Kit gives you: 30-day unlimited access
to Nexar2004; a versatile Development Board featuring a choice
of either a Altera Cyclone or Xilinx Spartan-3 FPGA device;
and over 20 'Live' example projects allowing you to
interactively build, test and implement digital systems,
including entire processor-based systems on FPGAs. Click
here for more info! |
ALDEC Releases……Active-HDL
6.3
Graphical Design Entry, Testbench
Automation, mixed VHDL, Verilog, Native SystemC™
and EDIF simulation are available from a common
FPGA design and verification environment.
Active-HDL 6.3 offers corporations a universal
product to support all levels of design creation,
project management, revision control, HTML
Documentation and mixed HDL verification from one
easy-to-use Windows based design environment.
Download and evaluate the product today. More
info.
|
Stratix II, the biggest & fastest
FPGAs, are shipping
now! -- The revolutionary
Stratix II FPGAs have the
highest density, highest
performance, and most
efficient architecture on the
market. The new
innovative logic structure in Stratix II
FPGAs enables
50% faster performance with 500 MHz internal
clock
speed, up to 180K equivalent logic elements (LEs),
and
9 Mbits of RAM, all at lower cost. Click
here. |
Find a better job. Browse FPGA Journal’s
new job listings to find challenging and rewarding
opportunities with the FPGA industry’s top companies. Journal
Jobs is specifically for FPGA professionals – more of what
you’re looking for, less of what you’re not. Browse
now! |
FPGA Journal has teamed with
Demos on Demand™ to provide streaming video demos
from over 70 EDA, PLD and IP vendors to our readers.
Programming is comprised of in-depth product demos from across
the entire spectrum of IC design, from ESL design entry
through layout--as presented by product managers, AEs, and
other subject matter experts. More
info.
|
Hire the best FPGA talent in the industry
with FPGA Journal Job Listings. Starting this month you can
reach 30,000 active FPGA professionals by advertising your
FPGA-related positions in Journal Jobs. Click
here for
info. |
| ModelSim® Designer™
is a Windows®-based design environment for FPGAs that offers
an easy to use, advanced-feature tool at an entry-level price.
The complete process of creation, management, simulation, and
implementation are controlled from a single user interface,
facilitating the design and verification flow and providing
significant productivity gains. Evaluate
Today! | |
|
