Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)

An FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) is a semiconductor device that can be configured by the customer or designer after manufacturing—hence the term “field-programmable”.

Key Characteristics

• Reconfigurability: Unlike ASICs, FPGAs can be updated remotely to fix bugs or add features.
• Parallelism: FPGAs can perform thousands of operations simultaneously, making them ideal for signal processing.
• Low Latency: Deterministic timing without operating system jitter.

Why Use an FPGA?

FPGAs are used when:

1. Requirements are evolving (updates needed).
2. Low latency is critical (radar, high-frequency trading).
3. Volumes are too low to justify the high NRE cost of an ASIC.