5. Applications

The first FPGAs were confined to interfacing applications between integrated circuits on an electronic board (signal shaping, I/O management, decoding functions, variable signal delay, small PLCs, etc.). At the time, this was referred to as Glu Logic.

Today, the integration of significant computing, memory and communication capabilities in a single FPGA has made them indispensable solutions in many applications. As a result, it's not uncommon to find solutions based entirely on an FPGA circuit as the active element and, possibly, one or more memory circuits.

One of the features that has made, and continues to make, FPGAs so successful is their great flexibility in terms of reconfiguration. It is thus possible to correct or improve a system to some extent after it has been brought to market. FPGA upgrades are therefore very similar to software...