Editing Field-programmable gate array (section)

== History ==

The FPGA industry sprouted from [[programmable read-only memory]] (PROM) and [[programmable logic device]]s (PLDs). PROMs and PLDs both had the option of being programmed in batches in a factory or in the field (field-programmable).<ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://filebox.vt.edu/users/tmagin/history.htm |title=History of FPGAs |access-date=2013-07-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070412183416/http://filebox.vt.edu/users/tmagin/history.htm |archive-date=April 12, 2007}}</ref>

[[Altera]] was founded in 1983 and delivered the industry's first reprogrammable logic device in 1984 – the EP300 – which featured a quartz window in the package that allowed users to shine an ultra-violet lamp on the [[Die (integrated circuit)|die]] to erase the [[EPROM]] cells that held the device configuration.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.altera.com/solutions/technology/system-design/articles/_2013/in-the-beginning.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421045728/https://www.altera.com/solutions/technology/system-design/articles/_2013/in-the-beginning.html |archive-date=2015-04-21|title=In the Beginning|date=21 April 2015|work=altera.com|author=Ron Wilson}}</ref>

[[Xilinx]] produced the first commercially viable field-programmable [[gate array]] in 1985<ref name="history" />{{snd}}the XC2064.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.xilinx.com/publications/archives/xcell/Xcell32.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110107140043/http://www.xilinx.com/publications/archives/xcell/Xcell32.pdf |archive-date=2011-01-07 |url-status=live|title=XCELL issue 32|publisher=Xilinx}}</ref> The XC2064 had programmable gates and programmable interconnects between gates, the beginnings of a new technology and market.<ref name="four">Funding Universe. "[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Xilinx-Inc-Company-History.html Xilinx, Inc.]" Retrieved January 15, 2009.</ref> The XC2064 had 64 configurable logic blocks (CLBs), with two three-input [[lookup table]]s (LUTs).<ref name="clive">Clive Maxfield, Programmable Logic DesignLine, "[http://www.pldesignline.com/products/187203173 Xilinx unveil revolutionary 65nm FPGA architecture: the Virtex-5 family] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225212024/http://www.pldesignline.com/products/187203173 |date=2009-12-25 }}. May 15, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2009.</ref>

In 1987, the [[Naval Surface Warfare Center]] funded an experiment proposed by Steve Casselman to develop a computer that would implement 600,000 reprogrammable gates. Casselman was successful and a patent related to the system was issued in 1992.<ref name="history" />

Altera and Xilinx continued unchallenged and quickly grew from 1985 to the mid-1990s when competitors sprouted up, eroding a significant portion of their market share. By 1993, Actel (later [[Microsemi]], now [[Microchip Technology|Microchip]]) was serving about 18 percent of the market.<ref name="four" />

The 1990s were a period of rapid growth for FPGAs, both in circuit sophistication and the volume of production. In the early 1990s, FPGAs were primarily used in [[telecommunications]] and [[Computer network|networking]]. By the end of the decade, FPGAs found their way into consumer, automotive, and industrial applications.<ref name="Maxfield">{{cite book |last = Maxfield |first = Clive| title = The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs: Devices, Tools and Flows| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOadcQAACAAJ&pg=PA4| year = 2004| publisher = Elsevier| isbn = 978-0-7506-7604-5| page = 4}}</ref>

By 2013, Altera (31 percent), Xilinx (36 percent) and Actel (10 percent) together represented approximately 77 percent of the FPGA market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sourcetech411.com/2013/04/top-fpga-companies-for-2013/|title=Top FPGA Companies For 2013|work=sourcetech411.com|date=2013-04-28|access-date=2015-07-08|archive-date=2015-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709173535/http://sourcetech411.com/2013/04/top-fpga-companies-for-2013/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Companies like Microsoft have started to use FPGAs to accelerate high-performance, computationally intensive systems (like the [[data center]]s that operate their [[Bing search engine]]), due to the [[performance per watt]] advantage FPGAs deliver.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2014/06/microsoft-fpga/|title=Microsoft Supercharges Bing Search With Programmable Chips|date=16 June 2014|magazine=WIRED}}</ref> Microsoft began using FPGAs to [[Hardware acceleration|accelerate]] Bing in 2014, and in 2018 began deploying FPGAs across other data center workloads for their [[Microsoft Azure|Azure]] [[cloud computing]] platform.<ref name="ProjCatapult" />

===Growth===
The following timelines indicate progress in different aspects of FPGA design.

====Gates====
* 1987: 9,000 gates, Xilinx<ref name="four" />
* 1992: 600,000, Naval Surface Warfare Department<ref name="history" />
* Early 2000s: millions<ref name="Maxfield" />
* 2013: 50 million, Xilinx<ref name="gates2013">{{cite web|last1=Maxfield|first1=Max|title=Xilinx UltraScale FPGA Offers 50 Million Equivalent ASIC Gates|url=https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320345|website=www.eetimes.com|publisher=EE Times}}</ref>

====Market size====
* 1985: First commercial FPGA : Xilinx XC2064<ref name=":0" /><ref name="four" />
* 1987: $14 million<ref name="four" />
* {{circa|1993}}: >$385 million<ref name="four" />{{failed verification|date=December 2020}}
* 2005: $1.9 billion<ref name="instat">Dylan McGrath, ''EE Times'', "[http://www.eetimes.com/news/design/business/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=188102617 FPGA Market to Pass $2.7 Billion by '10, In-Stat Says]". May 24, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2009.</ref>
* 2010 estimates: $2.75 billion<ref name="instat" />
* 2013: $5.4 billion<ref name="grandviewresearch.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/fpga-market|title=Global FPGA Market Analysis And Segment Forecasts To 2020 – FPGA Industry, Outlook, Size, Application, Product, Share, Growth Prospects, Key Opportunities, Dynamics, Trends, Analysis, FPGA Report – Grand View Research Inc|work=grandviewresearch.com}}</ref>
* 2020 estimate: $9.8 billion<ref name="grandviewresearch.com" />
* 2030 estimate: $23.34 billion<ref>{{Cite web |title=Field Programmable Gate Array Market To Reach $23.34Bn By 2030 |url=https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-fpga-market |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.grandviewresearch.com |language=en}}</ref>

====Design starts====
A ''design start'' is a new custom design for implementation on an FPGA.
* 2005: 80,000<ref name="designstarts">Dylan McGrath, ''EE Times'', "[http://www.eetimes.com/conf/dac/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=164302400 Gartner Dataquest Analyst Gives ASIC, FPGA Markets Clean Bill of Health]". June 13, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2009.</ref>
* 2008: 90,000<ref name="eweekly">{{cite web|url=http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/data_sheets/ds112.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122080100/http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/data_sheets/ds112.pdf |archive-date=2007-11-22 |url-status=live|title=Virtex-4 Family Overview|website=xilinx.com|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref>