Google: A New FPGA Standard: Seems Like a Big Move
February 24, 2022
I know from my previous work projects that semiconductor talk makes people go to sleep. Sure, there are some chip heads who salivate when considering X ray etching and the physics of nanometer scale silicon. Take it from me this quite important technical field is less thrilling than the average TikTok video.
Nevertheless, I want to call your attention to “FPGA Interchange Format to Enable Interoperable FPGA Tooling.” The title just screams big win for everyone. Remember the “Don’t be evil thing”? Ho ho ho.
Here’s the passage which snagged my attention:
Those benefits will extend to not only VPR and nextpnr, but to any other closed source tools, or new open source ones that adopt and implement the Interchange format. Having a standard Interchange format at the tooling developers’ disposal lowers the barriers to developing new open source tools in this area. As example use cases, it enables new approaches to partial dynamic reconfiguration and the exploration of different place and route algorithms. [emphasis added’’]
What’s the jargon mean?
Google aims to define the standard. Good news for everyone, right. Perhaps one should ask those who have other ideas about floating point gate array systems and methods?
Nah, let’s not. Let Googzilla graze in green pastures. A standard makes it easy for with it folks to build Googley systems and integrate certain nifty machine learning mechanisms. Deep dive? You get a free snorkel too.
Stephen E Arnold, February 24, 2022
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