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Please excuse the noobness.

What is the process a lone (or few) individual can send an HDL design off to a fab (tools, file formats, potential fabs)? I have played around with FPGAs but I'm curious how can I integrate them onto hobby circuits or add them to a PCB design. It seems like they would be impossible to hand solder so there must be a service for this.

I have read a bit about super low level optimization such as tuning transistor sizes and arranging transistors by hand but I don't know the process one would take to do this? Is there a standard format of interchange that one could use to specify such things to a fab completely.

I have searched the googles already. There is either nothing answering my specific question or I just don't know the proper search terms.

EDIT: Somehow my question is too broad. New version -> What manufacturers/process could one use to take a design prototyped on an FPGA and turn it into a standalone chip?

ballaw
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    On the "impossible to hand solder" front; they are not too hard to use in a prototype/hobby design - grab the chip in the TQFP package, these are easy to solder once you learn. If the chip is not available in TQFP, then you can still use other packages and solder paste with a hot-air rework station (or oven). This route is a little more complex as it involves getting a stencil made, but still not too difficult once you learn the ropes. – Oli Glaser Jun 29 '13 at 04:27
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    Since you ask about "sending an HDL design off to fab," you might want to check this out: http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/7042/how-much-does-it-cost-to-have-a-custom-asic-made/ – The Photon Jun 29 '13 at 04:40
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    *Is there a standard format of interchange that one could use to specify such things to a fab completely?* - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GDSII – Tim Jun 29 '13 at 06:26
  • Also see : [what-are-the-general-steps-used-in-creating-a-asic](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/60277/what-are-the-general-steps-used-in-creating-a-asic/) – Tim Jun 29 '13 at 06:29
  • It'd be good if the OP could clarify, but I think rather than a fab to make an ASIC they may be using the term to describe a contract manufacturer to just put FPGA BGAs etc on a board. – PeterJ Jun 29 '13 at 08:05
  • I meant both actually. Making a chip from the HDL, and who puts FPGAs on boards – ballaw Jun 29 '13 at 22:09
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    If you can't solder an FPGA you can't solder an ASIC either, so forget the ASIC for now. FPGAs aren't just for prototyping, they are viable for many production apps too. As far as soldering them is concerned; it is quite possible to hand solder a PQFP package to a PCB - this limits your choice of FPGAs but you may still find suitable ones. So - take your HDL design and use the free FPGA tools to turn it into a bitfile for the FPGA. Design a PCB to hold that FPGA and (for most FPGAs) external Flash ROM to hold the bitfile. –  Jun 30 '13 at 08:53
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    ... Send the PCB design off to a PCB maker (easy to find; can charge $20-$50 for 2 boards or up to $$$). Either hand solder the boards yourself or have an assembler make them for you. The latter may cost more but allows you to use bigger FPGAs with BGA packages. Some PCB makers are also assemblers, making life easier. When your sales exceed the thousands, THEN think about ASICs to reduce costs. –  Jun 30 '13 at 08:54

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What you are asking to do is nothing any hobbyist is able or afford to do. You can create your design in HDL, test it on FPGA, and prototype it on a demo board, but the going from FPGA design into ASIC is a whole different ball game.

Making an ASIC is a very complicated and costly process. And requires both VERY expensive tools and knowledge on how to use them.

If you design is not very complicated and large and you are not expecting to sell it in 10k+, you should definitely look into low cost FPGAs as an alternative to ASIC. You can get FPGAs for as low as $1 is larger quantities.

And since you are talking about hand soldering the products, I don't think ASIC is the way to go for you.

Just my 2c!

FarhadA
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  • Thanks for the input but I don't care about costs. I care about learning about the process. Assume I was bequeathed a billion dollars and I've designed my own video game console, full of IP chips and my own HDL. – ballaw Jun 29 '13 at 22:10
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    Well, I would guess that you will need to clone yourself to be able to make an graphic chip with multiple IPs and your own code. You need to do both the front end (logic design), integration of IPs, and backend design (timing analysis, IP planning, clock domain controls and setup, power management, technology specific issues) just to mention a few. It is doable, but I would never imagine doing this, I have seen companies with 20+ employees go under since they under-estimated the complexity and difficulty of the backend of an ASIC. But, I have to say good luck, if you think you can do it. – FarhadA Jun 30 '13 at 11:20