FPGA migration to ASICs

The advent of the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) has had a major impact on the design and delivery of digital systems. The FPGA has also been beneficial to the ASIC marketplace, allowing ASIC suppliers to focus more on proven volume designs. The FPGA can be iteratively re-programmed to debug and refine the design. Prototype systems can be constructed and delivered to end-customers. After a suitable evaluation period the same FPGAs can be employed in production of the system. However, for large production quantities, the cost of the FPGA becomes significant and manufacturing organizations typically seek to cost reduce the FPGA by switching over to a mask programmed gate array or standard cell ASIC. This paper reviews the reasons why people migrate from FPGAs to ASICs and explores the ways this is currently done. Design suggestions for simplifying the conversion process are made and we conclude with a case study