Field-Programmable Gate Arrays

Timely, authoritative, application-oriented. an in-depthexploration of current and future uses of FPGAs in digital systemsThe development of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may wellbe the most important breakthrough for the microelectronicsindustry since the invention of the microprocessor. Using FPGAs, asystem designer working on a PC can now develop a working prototypein a few hours and change it at will in just a few minutes, ratherthan waiting weeks or months for a printed-circuit assembly or acustom integrated circuit to be built. This newfound ability tochange a system by simply altering its configuration memory is alsoleading to exciting new forms of computing, such as arrayapplications that exploit parallelism. Now in a book that functionsequally well as a working professional reference and apedagogically consistent computer engineering text, John V.Oldfield and Richard C. Dorf:
* Provide a detailed overview of FPGAs in digital systemsdesign
* Explain the underlying principles, strengths, and limitations ofmost FPGA architectures
* Supply many real-life case studies, from elementary to advancedapplications--including examples of "custom computingmachines"
* Review cutting-edge developments, including new architectures anda new field-programmable interconnect chip
* Discuss key economic and business aspects of FPGA manufacture andapplications and their role in intellectual propertyprotection
* Demonstrate ways in which FPGAs offer plausible solutions to someof the major computing problems of our day

JOHN V. OLDFIELD, PhD, is Senior Research Scientist with Coherent Research, Inc. and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Syracuse University. RICHARD C. DORF, PhD, is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Davis.