10 most popular Programmable Logic DesignLine feature articles of 2009

1. Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGA User Guide Lite
July 22, 2009

This paper gives potential users an easy-to-grasp idea of the device functions of Xilinx Virtex-6 FPGAs. It describes the functionality of these devices in far more detail than in the data sheet--but avoids the minute implementation details covered in the various Virtex-6 FPGA user guides.

2. Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA User Guide Lite
Aug. 5, 2009

This paper gives potential users an easy-to-grasp idea of the device functions of Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGAs. It describes the functionality of these devices in far more detail than in the data sheet--but avoids the minute implementation details covered in the various Spartan-6 FPGA User Guides.

3. Don't Let Metastability Cause Problems in Your FPGA-Based Design
Sept. 29, 2009

This article describes metastability in FPGAs, explains why the phenomenon occurs, and discusses how it can cause design failures. It also explains how mean time between failures (MTBF) is calculated from design and device parameters, and presents techniques to improve system reliability with increased MTBF.

4. Building high-speed FPGA memory interfaces
Sept. 2, 2009

This article examines the architecture behind the I/O blocks in high-end FPGAs and how these FPGAs are able to achieve 533 MHz or 1067 Mbps data rates. It also examines the tools that are used to build a memory interface, and provide a brief overview of the timing budget.

5. How to detect solder joint faults in operating FPGAs in real time
March 4, 2009

Without early detection, electrical anomalies caused by solder joint faults can result in the catastrophic failure of mission-critical equipment. This article provides guidance for detecting these faults and addressing them.