Challenges and opportunities for FPGA programmable system platforms

Process technology and architecture innovation are the two engines that have fueled a spectacular advancement in FPGAs over the past 10 years. Programmable FPGA platforms give designers the benefits of deep submicron but rather than focusing on getting the silicon to work, one can focus on getting the design to work. We predict that FPGAs will become the heart of most systems over the next 5 years, replacing ASICs and processors as the fabric of choice.