Switching elements, the key to FPGA architecture

The architectural characteristics of FPGAs lie deep in their switching elements. Everything from the choice of logic blocks to the routing segmentation is influenced by these switches. SRAM switches provide the possibility of reprogramming the device. However, this feature comes at a prohibitive price: large area and reduced performance. Unless the reprogrammability of an FPGA is an absolute requirement, the antifuse based FPGAs provide a better solution to the switching requirements inside an FPGA. In most design environments, the cost of implementing a design on an FPGA is not dominated by the unit cost of the FPGAs programmed in the development phase. The dominant cost is the engineering time spent on achieving performance goals and the risks involved in not reaching the market on time.<>