Using reconfigurable FPGAs in test equipment applications

Since their introduction in 1985, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices have been used in tens of thousands of designs. In most of these, logic implemented in an FPGA could have been implemented with more traditional logic devices-masked gate arrays, or MSI/SSI devices, for example. However, FPGAs were a better alternative for any number of reasons-no nonrecurring engineering costs, lower design risks, less power dissipation, faster design and production cycles, etc. In essence, FPGAs combine the high-integration benefits of gate arrays with the time-to-market benefits of a user-programmable device, and typically are selected over other logic technologies to gain these benefits.<>