Editing Complex programmable logic device (section)

==Distinctions==
CPLDs were an evolutionary step from even smaller devices that preceded them: [[programmable logic array|PLA]]s (first shipped by [[Signetics]]) and [[programmable array logic|PAL]]s. These in turn were preceded by [[Logic family|standard logic]] products, which offered no programmability and were used to build logic functions by physically wiring several standard logic chips (or hundreds of them) together (usually with wiring on a printed circuit board or boards, but sometimes, especially for prototyping, using [[wire wrap]] wiring).

The main distinction between FPGA and CPLD device architectures is that CPLDs are internally based on a collection of PLDs accompanied by a programmable interconnection structure, while FPGAs use [[Logic_block|logic blocks]].