FPGAs are becoming an increasingly important tool in the electronics designer's armoury. But while the devices are being applied in a wide range of markets, there is a suspicion that FPGA skills across UK industry may not be matched to the application needs.
In order to find out more about how FPGAs are used, as well as the associated challenges, industry association nmi undertook a detailed survey in October to find out what's happening in the UK and Ireland.
The survey was part of the work being undertaken by FPGA industry veteran Doug Amos, manager of nmi's FPGA Peer Network. The data will be used to expand the Peer Network's activities and to focus its support work.
Questions asked of respondents ranged from how important FPGAs are to their work and which end markets designs were targeted at to whether projects ran to time and future challenges.
It was no surprise to discover that FPGAs are being targeted at a wide range of end markets. Most popular amongst respondents was industrial (35%), followed closely by aerospace and defence (31%). However, wired and wireless communications combined to represent 37% of the market.
But when asked how important FPGAs were to these designs, the survey brought an interesting response. More than 80% of respondents claimed FPGAs were 'essential' to their work. At the other end of the scale, a couple of respondents asserted they would rather not have to use them. In between the extremes, 14% said FPGAs were 'helpful' and 4% said they were 'nice to have'.
Amos said: "The extent to which programmable logic is used in today's products is not surprising in itself. However, the degree to which the success of those products relies on FPGA capabilities is quite remarkable."
With FPGAs being 'essential', an obvious follow up question is the degree to which designers are familiar with the technology. It turned out that 27% of respondents described themselves as 'expert'. Another 46% said their knowledge was 'good'. However, 27% of respondents said their knowledge was no better than fair. This compares with a survey conducted by New Electronics in September 2012 in which 39% of respondents believed their FPGA design knowledge to be 'good', but 62% said their knowledge was no better than 'fair'.
Asked to list the main challenges they faced when implementing FPGAs, respondents put timing analysis and closure (53%) at the top of their list, followed closely by RTL verification (50%) and initial design specification (37%).
The nmi survey also asked whether extra FPGA resource was needed for the company's most significant recent project. Half of those responding said none, claiming the existing design team managed to keep its skills up to date. However, 22% of respondents said their employer made time to train staff, while 19% added extra staff in anticipation and 10% of respondents called in consultants.
And how well did the design teams manage to meet their deadlines? Almost half of those responding (44%) said they were 'slightly over schedule', with another 12% admitted to being 'well over'.
But 28% said they were 'on time' and 4% claimed to have delivered their project 'early'. In terms of project length, 62% of respondents said a typical FPGA design project was less than one engineer-year in duration.
"Anecdotally," said Amos, "many users – but not all – told us that finding new staff with the necessary level of design skills was problematic. Is this an emerging skills gap?"
NMI is expanding its FPGA Peer Network activities, looking to address what it sees as the continuing challenges in FPGA design. "Having previously noted how 'essential' FPGA is to product success," Amos continued, "it may be that nmi has a role in brokering increased knowledge sharing."
In particular, the Network will lean on the expertise of The Frontrunners Forum, which will comprise experienced FPGA users from nmi member companies. "We will meet regularly to explain to and learn from the others," Amos said, "building a core body of knowledge to help drive the FPGA Peer Network. We expect to recognise common challenges and design trends, which we will partner with key players in the FPGA ecosystem in order to guide provision of regional support, training and user development."
Author
Graham Pitcher
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk