Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology continues to gain momentum, and the worldwide FPGA market is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2005 to $2.75 billion by 20101. Since its invention by Xilinx in 1984, FPGAs have gone from being simple glue logic chips to actually replacing custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and processors for signal processing and control applications. Why has this technology been so successful? This article provides an introduction to FPGAs and highlights some of the benefits that make FPGAs unique.

現(xiàn)場(chǎng)可編程門(mén)陣列(FPGA) 技術(shù)正持續(xù)發(fā)展，而全世界 FPGA 市場(chǎng)的產(chǎn)值，則預(yù)估可從 2005 年的 19 億美金提升到 2010 年的 27 億 5 千萬(wàn)美金。FPGA 是在 1984 年由 Xilinx 公司所發(fā)明，從簡(jiǎn)單的膠合邏輯 (Glue logic) 晶片，演變?yōu)榭扇〈椭频奶囟☉?yīng)用積體電路 (ASIC) 與處理器，適用于訊號(hào)處理與控制應(yīng)用。為何 FPGA 技術(shù)如此成功？此篇文章將介紹 FPGA，并說(shuō)明數(shù)項(xiàng)讓 FPGA 如此獨(dú)特的優(yōu)點(diǎn)。