Field-Programmable Gate Array

Ross Freeman (1948–1989), Bernard Vonderschmitt (1923–2004)

Many kinds of calculations can be implemented in either hardware or software.
Typically, hardware is faster but more complicated, while software is slower but
easier to create and debug. That’s because hardware typically has many
circuits and wires that perform the calculation in parallel. Software, in
contrast, runs as a series of instructions within a computer’s CPU: the same
circuits and wires are repurposed over the course of the calculation for many
different uses. Software remains more popular than hardware for solving
problems, because it’s typically easier to develop and change.
But what if hardware could be programmed just like software? Programmable
hardware could implement special algorithms for video processing. It could run
AI algorithms for image recognition at high speed, and presumably with less
power. Programmable hardware could also be used to replace complicated
circuit board designs with hundreds of individual components with a single,
programmable chip.
That’s the idea of a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The chips contain
programmable logic cells that can be connected as needed. Once they are wired
up, the gates can work like the circuits inside any other silicon chip —with one
big difference. If the wiring diagram isn’t correct, or if it needs to be changed,
the program can be erased and the FPGA reprogrammed with a new
configuration.
FPGAs are typically more expensive to purchase and program than application-
specific integrated circuits (ASICs). But because they can be programmed in
the lab and then reprogrammed as necessary, they make innovation
dramatically cheaper and faster—especially in applications where only a few
integrated circuits are needed, such as a prototype. Otherwise, the cost of
replacing a buggy circuit would be prohibitive, like on a spacecraft. That’s why
NASA used FPGAs on its Mars Curiosity rover.
Ross Freeman and Bernard Vonderschmitt cofounded Xilinx® in 1985
and created the first commercially viable FPGAs, winning Freeman a place in
the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
SEE ALSO Silicon Transistor (1947), First Microprocessor (1971), Verilog (1984)

The FPGA at the center of this circuit board can be programmed to pulse lights,
spin motors, and synthesize music.