Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [asic]

An ASIC is an Application Specific IC. It is a custom chip that is made at the factory.

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How much does it cost to have a custom ASIC made?

I have browsed several ASIC manufacturer's webs, but I haven't found an actual number. I assume there would be a fixed cost associated with creating masks and such and then there will be a cost per unit. Note: that I don't actually want to have an…
avakar
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How is ASIC design different from FPGA HDL synthesis?

I've had some experience with FPGA/HDL tool suites such as Xilinx ISE, Lattice Diamond, etc. The general workflow is writing Verilog/VHDL, simulation, testing and then programming the FPGA. I've heard a couple of people say ASIC design is very…
Robin Rodricks
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What are the differences and similarities between FPGA, ASIC and general microcontrollers?

I have read this post and it does not answer my question in its entirety: I think of a microcontroller as anything that has some memory, registers, and can process a set of instructions such as LOAD, STORE and ADD. It contains logic gates and such…
user58446
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What are the practical uses of ASIC?

Microcontrollers, FPGAs, ASIC (Application-specific integrated circuit) all are used for similar type of applications (at different levels). I know about microcontrollers and FPGAs. But what is an ASIC really? I have a hard time understanding why we…
Codenamed SC
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Reset: synchronous vs asynchronous

I've been working with fpgas for years, and always used synchronous resets for every parts (that need it) of my circuits. It helps the circuit to be globally reset at a given clock cycle. However, I was told that in ASIC circuits, people tend to use…
Aurelien Ribon
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What are Soft, Firm and Hard IP Cores?

My understanding of Intellectual Property (IP) Cores is that they are specific FPGA or ASIC circuit layouts or setups with the intention of being sold for general use. What are Soft, Firm and Hard IP Cores?
user160063
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Can we say that a CPU is an ASIC that is designed to perform a wide range of instructions?

My question is more terminological than technical. I have come across different definitions of what an ASIC is. The most common one is that an ASIC is an IC that is designed for a specific application (as its name implies). Depending on the exact…
Ramzi Baaguigui
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How were custom chips designed in the days prior to the arrival of FPGAs as hardware emulation devices?

One of the applications of FPGAs is to model a computer system/chip/functionality on it prior to mass manufacturing the copies of finalized design. How was this done before FPGAs were used for this kind of work?
lousycoder
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How does program execution happen in firmware?

I have heard from people working in firmware domain, that there is no Operating system controlling firmware (eg firmware in a USB drive). There is just a single thread running in a while loop waiting for an external command, and this is the start…
Abhijit K Rao
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Exotic semiconductors for fast digital ASIC

I am researching exotic semiconductors for a digital ASIC with a few million logic gates which should run as fast as possible within a $30 million budget. (Specifically, I need to do a single fully-parallel 4096-bit multiplication repeatedly. For…
Randomblue
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Can you get a Passive ASIC?

In super small low power devices, where space is a big premium, complicated passive networks can take up a lot of space. Is it possible to get a passive or mostly passive ASIC fabricated? If it is possible, how much would it cost? Obviously it would…
BeB00
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Why delays cannot be synthesized in Verilog?

I have always read that delays declared in RTL code can never be synthesized. They are meant only for simulation purpose and modern synthesis tools will just ignore delays declarations in the code. For example: x = #10 y; will be considered as x =…
Anand
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ASIC vs ? -- Performance & Cost

I'm interested in creating a custom linux based solution that will crunch sha256 cryptographic algorithms at insane levels of speed. I'm also on a limited budget... I have no background in EE but I do w/ Software. My question is custom ASICs have…
bbqchickenrobot
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What can go wrong when producing an ASIC from an FPGA-verified verilog design?

Given a Verilog design fully validated on an FPGA prototyping system, and someone who has never done an ASIC before, what are the chances that a service like CMP will ship fully usable chips on the first try? As far as I can tell, they provide the…
Tim
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How does the switch in this board control four different states in the LED?

I have the simplest board with a LED and a switch, powered by 2 CR2032 3V (pictures attached). There is 4 possible states: LED is off. LED flashing slowly. LED flashing fast. LED is constantly on. How does 1 switch generates 4 states? How does…
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