Field-Programmable Gate Arrays: Reconfigurable Logic for Rapid Prototyping and Implementation of Digital Systems

AFTERWORD

It is interesting to ask software people what they like about their work. Most say that intellectual stimulation is foremost. But if that is the case, then why wouldn’t proving mathematical theorems be just as stimulating? Surely that exercise requires the same type of intellectual activity? But theorem-proving lacks the feeling of creation that accompanies the writing of a program. Both are logical constructions in particular formal systems—but the theorem simply “is,” while the program (eventually!) “runs.”

Those who prefer hardware to software often point to the absence of constraints as the basis of their choice. They are free to create ab initio a machine that solves a problem optimally, rather than merely programming a suboptimal solution on an arbitrary machine. But to date, hardware has lacked the immediacy—instant gratification—of software.

This book has shown how the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) has brought hardware and software closer together. An FPGA would be virtually useless without extensive CAD support, including algorithms that represent some of the toughest challenges to software engineers and scientists. The act of programming an FPGA captures some of the immediacy of software design along with some of the freedom of hardware design.

From a systems perspective, FPGAs are often thought of as a replacement for “glue logic,” or for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which have a longer design and fabrication cycle. But there is ...