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FROM THE EDITOR
This week we take a look at the perilous world of
packaging. While the part of the FPGA beyond the pins may seem a bit
unglamorous, choosing the proper package type is a critical decision
in your design process. We help you analyze your priorities in our
“Package
Deal” feature article.
We’re also getting a ton of traffic on our new jobs
and demos
pages. We’ve got more new content planned for the coming months, so
stay tuned and keep your comments coming on what else you’d like to
see in FPGA Journal.
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 |
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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.
| | |
Package Deal
How to Pick the Best Wrapper for Your FPGA
Choosing an FPGA package is both simple and fun.
We have flat-pack, via-stack, timing sometimes outa’
whack; BGA, pin-array, tin-whisker sneak attack, lead-free, QFP, 12-layer
PCB; cavity-up, cavity-down, ceramic, plastic, heat-sink ground;
flip-chip, classic DIP, moisture-sensitive micro-chip… OK, wait. Let’s
break this down.
Package selection is one of the most important and least
understood aspects of part selection for most FPGA designers. While the
digitally inclined among us are savvy to the subtleties of speed-grade
selection and cognizant of the complexities of LUT-counting, we tend to
glaze over at mere mention of solder-balls and thermal resistance. In that
no man’s land where logic design meets the physical world, our happy realm
of zeros and ones is invaded by terrifying creatures like materials
properties, mechanical specifications, and ambient temperatures.
You can simplify the problem significantly if you take two
important steps. First, partner with the people doing the mechanical and
board layout on your project. You’ll find them quite friendly, and they
probably paid attention in those classes you avoided, skipped, or slept
through in engineering school. The choice of package can have an enormous
impact on the cost and complexity of their job as well as on the
performance and reliability of your finished project, so it pays to have
them heavily involved from the beginning.
Second, you need to make a list of the primary
considerations in package selection and decide which ones are priorities
for your design. You can use this as a road map when you’re navigating the
jargon-laden jungle of package data sheets. When you break down your basic
requirements, choosing the package becomes almost an exercise in the
obvious.
[more]
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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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
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FPGA Journal has teamed with
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Programming is comprised of in-depth product demos from across
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Hire the best FPGA talent in the industry
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