In most applications, FPGAs are used to implement "glue logic", providing the advantages of high integration levels without the expense and risk of custom ASIC development. However, as SRAM-based FPGA devices have increased in capability, their use as in-system-configurable computing elements is receiving considerable attention. Indeed, reconfigurable FPGA technology holds the potential for reshaping the future of computing by providing the capability to dynamically alter a computer's hardware resources to optimally service immediate computational needs. Computing circuits built from SRAM-based FPGAs can meet the true goal of parallel processing-executing algorithms in circuitry with the inherent parallelism of hardware, while avoiding the instruction fetch and load/store bottlenecks of traditional von Neumann architectures. There are many computationally-intensive algorithms that can benefit from being partially or wholly implemented in hardware. Typically, these algorithms are too specialized to justify the expense of manufacturing custom IC devices.
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