Semicustom Logic

Computer Summaries

Here is a brief summary of digital Integrated Circuit logic implementation.



Implementation strategies are organized by semiconductor memory technology, to indicate possible cost reduction migration paths. All digital IC semiconductor solutions are first separated into two main categories - Standard (or universal) Logic, and Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) Logic. ASIC design may be custom, or semicustom. User-programmable logic becomes confusing, and must be separated between "PLD" devices, and FPGA devices.

Which should you choose for ASIC design, gate array or FPGA? Many factors are involved, including time-to-market, complexity (gate count), time to working silicon, ease of implementing design changes, anticipated market size, cost considerations, ASIC vendor track record, etc.

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Gate Arrays -

Atmel, Chip Express, Fujitsu,
LSI Logic, Oki, Toshiba, TSMC

A. - CPLDs (fuse-based) -

AMD, intel

B. - CPLDs (UV-based) -

Altera, Atmel, Xylinx

C. - CPLDs (EE-based) -

AMD, Atmel, Cypress, Lattice

D. - FPGAs (fuse-based) -

Actel, Quicklogic

E. - FPGAs (SRAM-based) -

Altera, Atmel, Xilinx

Standard Logic (CMOS, TTL) -

Quality, SGS, Toshiba

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