Using FPGAs to Improve x86 Processor I/O Flexibility

By offering the ability to update application functionality, provide a reconfigurable solution and enable easy design customization, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology has long been known as a cost-effective design resource. Similarly, x86 processor architectures share many of the same extended ecosystem, installed base, and multi-functionality benefits as FPGAs.

The availability of new x86 processors in combination with an FPGA presents an entirely new design approach thanks to increased performance integrated into smaller form factors that offer very low thermal design power (TDP). The result for embedded applications is that a predetermined feature set for embedded computers practically ceases to exist. Leveraging the inherent advantages of FPGA-controlled I/Os and x86 processor-based boards into new hardware platforms presents an innovative and flexible solution that allows designers to develop dedicated I/Os that support a wider range of application requirements. This single hardware platform also enables OEMs to shrink the overall bill of materials by eliminating chipsets. Designers can reconfigure the FPGA on the same hardware platform with just the exchange of IP cores to suit different protocol requirements and are able to develop different areas of applications without the need for a full board redesign. This hardware-optimized approach provides the ability to do customization on a common platform increasing design differentiation and also reducing time-to-market.

The x86 Architecture Evolution

The continuing evolution of the x86 processor architectures with their high-performance, extended and enhanced features, and lower power consumption ushers in a new realm of platform flexibility that supports a broader variety of design options. This evolution has been a boon for embedded systems, but is not without its pitfalls. The large number of x86-based developers that have created the huge installed base of applications has led to a very long list of pre-determined instruction sets that now limit many types of embedded applications. For this reason, embedded designers have been looking for a better way to meet the specific I/O requirements or have the ability to customize embedded solutions with proprietary I/O or acceleration.