Field programmable gate arrays and reconfigurable computing
Bradly K. Fawcett · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1995
In-system programmable, SRAM-based field programmable gate arrays (FPGAa) can be used to create processors and coprocessors whose internal architecture as well as interconnections can be reconfigured to match the needs of a given application. Exploiting the inherent speed and parallelism of a hardware solution, FPGA-based coprocessors can execute computationally-intensive tasks while maintaining the flexibility of a programmable solution. The subject of numerous research projects over the past few years, the use of FPGAa as reconfigurable computing elements is poised to expand rapidly in the commercial market. This manuscript overviews the use of SRAM-based FPGAa as processing elements. Several prominent research projects and commercial applications are cited, and technology trends are discussed.