Chapter 28 - Implementation Using FPGAs

Abstract

The focus of this chapter is to demonstrate that field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) can be used to perform digital signal processing (DSP). The chapter also explores that from their origins as custom logic and interface functions, FPGAs have grown to include nearly every function that can be implemented digitally. FPGAs are able to interface to virtually any other type of system using nearly any protocol at a wide range of data rates. FPGAs are frequently used to interface analog-to-digital converters and digital-to-analog converters, and also backplanes. The FPGA fabric is composed of configurable logic elements and programmable routing—that permit any digital function to be built—including multipliers, adders, accumulators, shifters, registers, and any other functions that might be found in a DSP processor. With the addition of multi-port memories and dedicated DSP compute blocks, FPGAs became a very efficient platform for digital signal processing, supplanting DSP devices in most cases. Even mid-range FPGAs can perform in excess of 1000GMACs per second and over 1000 GFLOPS per second.