New FPGAs Challenge ASICs & ASSPs For High Volume Apps

Low in cost and power dissipation and rich in features are claimed for a new family of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) groomed for use as programmable replacements for application-specific ICs (ASICs) and standard products (ASSPs). As regards price, a 100,000-system-gate member of the Spartan-II family of FPGAs, for example, would reportedly cost