Customer Reviews

Architecture and CAD for Deep-Submicron FPGAs (The Springer International Series in Engineering and Computer Science)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book derives from Vaughn Betz's doctoral dissertation. Despite that, it provides a clear and readable introduction for researchers in at least two areas of FPGA tools and implementation: tools and fabric.

This work is best known for the tools that Betz developed, including the Versatile (or was it Vaughn's?) Place and Route - VPR. Nearly a decade old now, VPR has achieved such iconic status that it appears twice in the SPEC 2000 benchmarks. VPR also seems to be the de facto starting point for nearly all current academic research in P&R. Chapters 3-4 of this book, following some introductory material, present the essence of Betz's research. When I say that it all unfolds in a logical, even obvious way, I don't mean to denigrate this work. Quite the opposite. Only a very fine mind and writer can make the subtle appear obvious, and even that statement disregards the huge amount of experimentation and CPU-months that went into proving that it is obvious.

The second half of the book's thesis lies outside of my central interests. Given groundbreaking tools for exploiting an FPGA's structure, a new question arises. Within the range of possible structures, which can most readily be exploited? At this writing, 3.5 Moore generations after this book was published, the answers are very different. The questions remain valid, however, as do Betz's means of answering them. Parameterized tools explore the space of parameterized structures.

Perhaps the sticker shock on this title will put some readers off - it certainly lead me to some fancy talking in convincing my department to get a copy. Compare the price to tuition you'd pay (if you could find a course) to acquire the same knowledge. Despite its age, this book's content underlies today's commercial P&R tools. If you're starting in the field, you must start here.

-- wiredweird