Specifications

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etc. The collection of final verification is called sign-off, and is the last step
before a design is released for fabrication
The end result is a design that is a globally-optimal realization of the product’s
logical requirements. For a production scale on the order of millions of units, a
well designed ASIC can drastically reduce costs of production for digital devices.
However, for initial prototyping of a design, ASIC design presents an
insurmountable cost hurdle. The standard NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering)
costs of ramping up the production of an ASIC can run into the millions of dollars,
making this path to product realization a failure, until such a point where
production can be justified over the number of units being constructed. This will
be a realizable solution if our product design is certified for mass production, and
as such is a valuable consideration for long-term product realization plans.
2.2.2 Field-Programmable Gate Array
FPGAs are a design solution that offers a better cost-compromise than ASICs,
while allowing for the complete customization of the logical hardware design. An
FPGA is an integrated-circuit designed to be programmed after it has been
manufactured (hence, the Field-Programmable aspect). This programming is
done using an HDL such as Verilog or VHDL, just like in the design of an ASIC.
An FPGA can be used to implement any logical function an ASIC can, however,
they offer the advantages of being programmable even after product release,
meaning any logical design flaws that are not caught in the final validation of the
product can be software hot-fixed later if need be. They also offer the advantage
of having an extremely low NRE compared to ASICs, but this is offset by the
drastic increase in per-unit cost of the pre-fabricated, programmable chips. An
FPGA would allow for the definition of system-level components that would
otherwise need to be handled by dedicated hardware, such as digital signal
processing for analog-to-digital conversion, Transistor-Transistor Logic for driving
segment displays, as well as synchronous and asynchronous serial
communications. Some example FPGA development platforms are identified in
the sections below.
2.2.2.1 Altera Cyclone 2 FPGA
The potential for software development on an FPGA could easily be realized on
this variety of low power, low gate count FPGAs made by Altera. The Quartus II
software to design the gate logic using a hardware design language, such as
Verilog or VHDL, is available for free on the Altera website. Using a simple FPGA
breakout board, a circuit for operation and programming of the chip could be
designed with an Altera-supplied programming cable, as well as a power supply
offering select DC voltage supplies of 5v, 3.3v, and 1.5v.