FPGA work spans production systems where the FPGA is the product, prototyping ahead of an ASIC, and signal-processing platforms where reconfigurability is the point. Faststream covers architecture, HDL, timing closure, resource optimisation and hardware bring-up — including the high-speed interfaces that are usually where the difficulty actually is.
| Situation | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Low to moderate volume, high performance | FPGA | No mask cost, and the performance a processor cannot reach |
| Requirements still moving | FPGA | Reconfigurable after deployment |
| High volume, stable function | ASIC | Unit cost and power dominate once volume is real |
| Signal processing with evolving standards | FPGA | Field-updatable datapath as standards move |
| Modest performance, cost-sensitive | MCU or SoC | An FPGA is over-specified for the job |
| Proven FPGA design going to volume | FPGA-to-ASIC conversion | Function already validated in hardware, so risk is lower |
A design that will not close timing at 90 per cent utilisation rarely closes because someone found a better tool setting. It closes because the architecture changes — pipelining added at the right stage, a clock domain restructured, a memory access pattern altered so the router has somewhere to go.
That is worth knowing early, because the cost of restructuring rises sharply once the design is integrated. Faststream budgets timing and resource utilisation at architecture, and treats a design sitting above roughly 80 per cent utilisation as a risk to manage rather than a milestone to celebrate.
When volume is high enough that unit cost and power dominate, and the function is stable enough that fixing it in silicon is not a bet. Because the design has already been validated in hardware, conversion carries less risk than a new ASIC from scratch.
Insufficient pipelining on critical paths, high utilisation leaving the router no room, poorly structured clock domain crossings, and constraints that do not describe the real timing intent. Most are architectural and cheapest to fix early.
Yes. That starts with an assessment of the HDL, constraints, verification state and utilisation, so the work plan reflects the design's actual condition.
Tell us the specification, the constraint and the deadline. Programmes that cross silicon, radio, embedded and AI are where Faststream is strongest.