Goldilocks and FPGA Development - a Methodology That's Just Right

Like the chairs available to the fabled little girl, the traditional FPGA development methodologies available to most developers have either been too small or too big. IP libraries can ease the blank slate problems, but they are simply too small to address the integration problem-no matter how big they are. At the other extreme, there are several offerings of complete, closed development environments with IP libraries that automate integration, but the practices dictated by these environments place restrictions on the developer that can be inflexible and restrictive. Given the costs, complexities and learning curves of these environments, they often feel too big...

...This new framework methodology for FPGA development has emerged as a "just right" sized alternative to previous methodologies that are often too small or too big. It helps overcome the obstacles to the development of FPGA system solutions, and reduces development costs by providing an infrastructure that moves FPGA development to a higher level of abstraction. A framework enables a software-like approach to FPGA development by treating the FPGA like an SoC with peripheral and fabric infrastructure in place. By integrating validated HDL components, productivity enhancement resources and software libraries, a framework moves customers quickly and confidently from design to deployment. Now, if we can only figure out the too hard, too soft problem.

~ Jeff Milrod, BittWare President & CEO
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