ASIC prototyping using FPGA (PR184-119-0)

SynopsisIf you are an ASIC designer, then you have to be good at FPGA prototyping. That is the present paradigm. Tape-out is too costly, so designers have to proactively mitigate risks of design failures by verifying design functionalities on FPGA prototypes. In addition, firmware designers will be able to develop their designs concurrently and test using the FPGA prototypes. This typically reduces the project development cycle. This hands-on course aims to equip ASIC designers with the skills to port their digital designs onto FPGA prototypes quickly.

In this course, the participant will learn about the FPGA architecture and differences between FPGA development and ASIC development. Guidelines on ASIC to FPGA porting to achieve optimal performance will be illustrated. This is a very interactive class, with hands-on ASIC to FGPA conversion exercise. By the end of the course, the participant will understand FPGA architecture and will be equipped with the skills to port their ASIC designs to FPGA.

What You Will Learn

• FPGA Architecture
• Comparison of FPGA design development and ASIC design development
• ASIC to FPGA conversion guideline
• Hands-On Conversion

Who Should Attend

• ASIC Engineers

Prerequisite

• Knowledge about digital design
• At least 6 months of ASIC design experience

Course MethodologyThis course is conducted in a computer lab. Each student will be provided with computer and FPGA prototyping board for hands-on. Hardcopy of slides will be provided.

Course Duration2 days, 9 am - 5 pm

Course Structure1) FPGA Architecture

• CLB
• PLL
• DLL
• DCM
• Block RAM
• SelectIO

2) FPGA Basic Blocks

• Memory
• Registers
• Buffers
• Arithmetic Logic
• Finite State Machines
• Instantiation versus Inference
• IP Cores

3) FPGA Tool Flow

• Synthesis
• Equivalency checking
• Floorplanning and layout
• Static Timing Analysis
• Power Calculator
• Place and Route Edit

4) FPGA vs ASIC Design Flow

• FPGA Design and Verification Flow
• ASIC Design and Verification Flow
• Key Differences

5) Design Guidelines on ASIC to FPGA Porting

• 9 Steps Guideline

6) Hands-On

• ASIC to FPGA Porting using Sample Codes