Stephen M. Trimberger

A reprogrammable gate array and applications

A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) can implement thousands of gates of logic, has no up-front fixed costs, and can be programmed in a few minutes by writing into on-chip static memory is described. This kind of FPGA can be reprogrammed any number of times, providing a versatile platform for rapid hardware implementation. Reprogrammable technology allows software-like design methodologies to be applied to logic design. The construction of this kind of FPGA, design tradeoffs, and examples of applications that take advantage of reprogrammability are examined. >

Effects of FPGA Architecture on FPGA Routing

Although many traditional Mask Programmed Gate Array (MPGA) algorithms can be applied to FPGA routing, FPGA architectures impose critical constraints and provide alternative views of the routing problem that allow innovative new algorithms to be applied. This paper describes routing models provided by some commercial FPGA architectures, and points out the effects of these architectures on routing algorithms. Implicit in the discussion is a commentary on current and future research in FPGA routing.

Three Ages of FPGAs: A Retrospective on the First Thirty Years of FPGA Technology

Since their introduction, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have grown in capacity by more than a factor of 10

FPGA Security: Motivations, Features, and Applications

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Die Stacking Technology for Terabit Chip-to-Chip Communications

000 and in performance by a factor of 100. Cost and energy per operation have both decreased by more than a factor of 1000. These advances have been fueled by process technology scaling, but the FPGA story is much more complex than simple technology scaling. Quantitative effects of Moores Law have driven qualitative changes in FPGA architecture, applications and tools. As a consequence, FPGAs have passed through several distinct phases of development. These phases, termed “Ages” in this paper, are The Age of Invention, The Age of Expansion and The Age of Accumulation. This paper summarizes each and discusses their driving pressures and fundamental characteristics. The paper concludes with a vision of the upcoming Age of FPGAs.

Authenticated encryption for FPGA bitstreams

Since their inception, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have grown in capacity and complexity so that now FPGAs include millions of gates of logic, megabytes of memory, high-speed transceivers, analog interfaces, and whole multicore processors. Applications running in the FPGA include communications infrastructure, digital cinema, sensitive database access, critical industrial control, and high-performance signal processing. As the value of the applications and the data they handle have grown, so has the need to protect those applications and data. Motivated by specific threats, this paper describes FPGA security primitives from multiple FPGA vendors and gives examples of those primitives in use in applications.

Method of time multiplexing a programmable logic device

In this paper a die stacking technology, leveraging on through die via (TDV) integration and wafer bonding, is presented. Using state-of-the-art volume manufacturing environment, 10:1 aspect ratio TDV and wafer-level bonding technology are developed and initial electrical and reliability characterization results of TDVs are provided. The opportunities for die-stacking technology to alleviate chip-to-chip communication bottleneck are discussed and visions for stacked-die applications, utilizing a programmable virtual backplane, are presented

Time multiplexed programmable logic device

FPGA bitstream encryption blocks theft of the design in the FPGA bitstream by preventing unauthorized copy and reverse engineering. By itself, encryption does not protect against tampering with the bitstream, so without additional capabilities, bitstream encryption cannot prevent the FPGA from executing an unauthorized bitstream. An unauthorized bitstream might be generated by trial and error to cause the FPGA to leak confidential data, including the decrypted bitstream. Strong authentication detects tampering with the bitstream, providing a root of trust that enables applications that require protection of sensitive data in a hostile environment. This paper describes the SHA HMAC-based bitstream authentication algorithm and protocol in Virtex-6 FPGAs and shows how they are integrated in the bitstream.