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VLSI Design · Module 9 of 10

FPGA prototyping

Testing designs on reprogrammable chips.

📖 Key ideas

  1. An FPGA is a chip you can reprogram with your own digital design.
  2. Students can run Verilog designs on low-cost FPGA boards.
  3. FPGA flow: write RTL, simulate, synthesise, place and route, generate a bitstream, program the board.
  4. FPGAs are used for prototyping ASICs and in products like networking and defence.
  5. Tools: AMD Vivado, Intel Quartus and open-source Yosys/nextpnr.
💡 Real-life example: Like a whiteboard version of a chip: draw (program) your circuit, test it, erase and try again.
FPGAField-programmable gate array
ASICApplication-specific integrated circuit
BitstreamFile that programs an FPGA
PrototypeEarly working version for testing