Re:How Does an FPGA Work?
by pjc50 on Wednesday May 03, 2023 @04:35PM
(#35807421)
> One might ask, why are cpus not being replaced by FPGAs?
Most of the time you want data-dependent execution. FPGA systems excel at "fixed pipeline" systems, where you have e.g. an audio filter chain .. but even that is usually done in efficient DSP CPUs.
> Another interesting question, can software (recipes for cpus) be transpiled to be efficiently run on FPGAs?
A subset can. Things like recursion are right out. Various companies have tools to do this, but you usually end up having to rework either the source you're feeding them, or the HDL output.
Most of the time you want data-dependent execution. FPGA systems excel at "fixed pipeline" systems, where you have e.g. an audio filter chain .. but even that is usually done in efficient DSP CPUs.
> Another interesting question, can software (recipes for cpus) be transpiled to be efficiently run on FPGAs?
A subset can. Things like recursion are right out. Various companies have tools to do this, but you usually end up having to rework either the source you're feeding them, or the HDL output.