Designing field-programmable gate arrays
Planting Trees
© Lead Image © Anastasiya Zabolotnaya, 123RF.com
Learn what FPGAs are, how they work, and how to design FPGA integrated circuits on Linux.
In 2023, the number of people who have written some form of software code at least once is surely orders of magnitude greater than whatever it was in 1991, when Linux was born. That is good, but in my opinion, another very important group should have grown even more in the same period, but didn't: I refer to the people who have tried at least once to design digital integrated circuits (ICs) – that is, digital hardware instead of software.
This is a pity, because without such circuits no software could exist, and designing them is much more accessible today than it was 30 years ago. My goal in this article, which requires no previous knowledge of digital ICs, is to prove that point – at least for those really important ICs (that can also run Linux), known as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
The basic flow and core concepts of FPGA design are not intrinsically more difficult than those for efficient software design. However, they are different enough that a complete FPGA tutorial for beginners could well fill half this magazine.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Two New Distros Adopt Enlightenment
MX Moksha and AV Linux 25 join ranks with Bodhi Linux and embrace the Enlightenment desktop.
-
Solus Linux 4.8 Removes Python 2
Solus Linux 4.8 has been released with the latest Linux kernel, updated desktops, and a key removal.
-
Zorin OS 18 Hits over a Million Downloads
If you doubt Linux isn't gaining popularity, you only have to look at Zorin OS's download numbers.
-
TUXEDO Computers Scraps Snapdragon X1E-Based Laptop
Due to issues with a Snapdragon CPU, TUXEDO Computers has cancelled its plans to release a laptop based on this elite hardware.
-
Debian Unleashes Debian Libre Live
Debian Libre Live keeps your machine free of proprietary software.
-
Valve Announces Pending Release of Steam Machine
Shout it to the heavens: Steam Machine, powered by Linux, is set to arrive in 2026.
-
Happy Birthday, ADMIN Magazine!
ADMIN is celebrating its 15th anniversary with issue #90.
-
Another Linux Malware Discovered
Russian hackers use Hyper-V to hide malware within Linux virtual machines.
-
TUXEDO Computers Announces a New InfinityBook
TUXEDO Computers is at it again with a new InfinityBook that will meet your professional and gaming needs.
-
SUSE Dives into the Agentic AI Pool
SUSE becomes the first open source company to adopt agentic AI with SUSE Enterprise Linux 16.