IEEE Solid-States Circuits Magazine - Spring 2018 - 28

Trimberger: Three Ages of FPGAs

is clear that, while there are many FPGA users who need to
exploit the limits of FPGA technology, there are many
others for whom the technological capability is adequate,
but who are daunted by the complexity of using that
technology.
The complexity and capability of devices have driven an
increase in capability of design tools. Modern FPGA toolsets include high-level synthesis compilation from C, Cuda
and OpenCL to logic or to embedded microprocessors [10],
[11], [35]. Vendor-provided libraries of logic and processing functions defray design costs. Working operating systems and hypervisors control FPGA SoC operation. Team
design functions, including build control, are built into
FPGA design systems. Some capabilities are built by the
vendors themselves, others are part of the growing FPGA
ecosystem.
Clearly, usability is critical to this next age of FPGAs.
Will that usability be realized through better tools, novel
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28

XIV. F UT U R E A GE OF FP G AS
What of the future? What is the age after this one? I refuse
to speculate, but instead issue a challenge: remember the
words of Alan Kay, ''The best way to predict the future is to
invent it.'' h

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Proceedings of the IEEE | Vol. 103, No. 3, March 2015

s p r i n g 2 0 18

architectures, exploitation of the process technology, or
greater accumulation of fixed blocks? Most likely, just as
every previous age was required to contribute to each successive age, all techniques will be needed to succeed. And
more besides. As with the other Ages, the next Age of
FPGAs will only be completely clear in retrospect.
Throughout the age, expect to see time-honored good
engineering: producing the best products possible from the
available technology. This good engineering will be
accomplished as the available technology and the definition
of ''best'' continuously change.

IEEE SOLID-STATE CIRCUITS MAGAZINE

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https://www.slideshare.net/designreuse/111207-ip-so-c-dworskyfpga-panel-slides
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