The economics of structured- and standard-cell-ASIC designs

摘要

Although structured ASICs promise a shorter schedule than standard-cell ASICs, this abbreviation comes at a price. Structured ASICs are more expensive on a per-unit basis, allow less customization, and offer lower performance than standard-cell ASICs. For various designs, customers often have to choose from standard-cell ASICs, structured ASICs, and FPGAs. To select the right ASIC, you could use a three-step approach. The first step would be to look at the technical requirements and feasibility of the design for structured-ASIC and standard-cell-ASIC technologies. Next, you would perform a financial analysis. Finally, you would employ a financial model that looks at the total time value of money and the NPV (net present value) of the ASIC project.