Digital Design Flow
You see, engineers are all like, “We invent stuff and are super smart and you marketers are just dumb and lie all the time”; marketers, on the other hand, are trying to close the gap between the products produced by the self-proclaimed super intelligent engineers and the apparently idiot customers who don’t realize the obviousness of the engineers’ fantabulous solutions.
As a marketer, let me ask you this: if your product/solution is so incredible, then how come no one’s buying it?
Example … The safety can opener
Marketing Promises
Engineering Tradeoffs
Project Requirements
4 Major Engineering Roles
The 4 major engineering roles or departments for chip design are
Design
Design Verification
Applications
Testing
Effect of Die Size on Yield
Die Yield Calculator link
7mm x 7mm = 49mm2 10mm x 10mm = 100mm2
FPGA - From Wikipedia
An FPGA contains a matrix of configurable logic blocks connected via a programmable interconnects. This allows the blocks to be "wired together"—somewhat like connecting a variety of logic gates in a variety of ways.
The logic blocks can be configured to perform complex combinational functions, or merely function as simple logic gates like AND and XOR.
The logic blocks typically also include flip-flops.
Difference between an ASIC and an FPGA
ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and FPGAs have different value propositions, which must be carefully evaluated before choosing any one over the other.
FPGA vs CPU vs GPU vs DSP
FPGA - From Wikipedia
A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by a customer or a designer after manufacturing.
The FPGA configuration is generally specified using a hardware description language (HDL), that is the same as the one used for an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
The ability to update the functionality after shipping and the low non-recurring engineering costs relative to an ASIC design (notwithstanding the generally higher unit cost), offer advantages for many applications
FPGA
DE Logical Element (LE) (1 of 18752)
LE in Normal Mode
LE in Normal Mode (Simplified)
LE in Arithmetic Mode