Field-programmable gate array: Difference between revisions

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[[Altera]] was founded in 1983 and delivered the industry's first reprogrammable logic device in 1984 – the EP300 – which featured a quartz window in the package that allowed users to shine an ultra-violet lamp on the die to erase the EPROM cells that held the device configuration.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.altera.com/solutions/technology/system-design/articles/_2013/in-the-beginning.html|title=In the Beginning|date=21 April 2015|work=altera.com}}</ref>

[[Xilinx]] co-founders [[Ross Freeman]] and [[Bernard Vonderschmitt]] invented the first commercially viable field-programmable [[gate array]] in 1985&nbsp;– the XC2064.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.xilinx.com/publications/archives/xcell/Xcell32.pdf|title=XCELL issue 32|last=|first=|date=|website=http://www.xilinx.com/|publisher=Xilinx|access-date=}}</ref><ref>Peter Clarke, ''EE Times'', "[http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20010622S0091 Xilinx, ASIC Vendors Talk Licensing]." June 22, 2001. Retrieved February 10, 2009.</ref>{{failed verification|reason=does not identify inventors and conflicts with statement below|date=March 2015}} The XC2064 had programmable gates and programmable interconnects between gates, the beginnings of a new technology and market.<ref name="four">Funding Universe. “[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Xilinx-Inc-Company-History.html Xilinx, Inc.]” Retrieved January 15, 2009.</ref> The XC2064 had 64 configurable logic blocks (CLBs), with two three-input lookup tables (LUTs).<ref name="clive">Clive Maxfield, Programmable Logic DesignLine, "[http://www.pldesignline.com/products/187203173 Xilinx unveil revolutionary 65nm FPGA architecture: the Virtex-5 family]. May 15, 2006. Retrieved February 5, 2009.</ref> More than 20 years later, Freeman was entered into the [[National Inventors Hall of Fame]] for his invention.<ref>Press Release, "[http://press.xilinx.com/2009-02-11-Xilinx-Co-Founder-Ross-Freeman-Honored-as-2009-National-Inventors-Hall-of-Fame-Inductee-for-Invention-of-FPGA Xilinx Co-Founder Ross Freeman Honored as 2009 National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee for Invention of FPGA]"</ref><ref>{{cite patent |inventor-last=Freeman |inventor-first=Ross H. |title=Configurable electrical circuit having configurable logic elements and configurable interconnects |country-code=US |patent-number=4870302 |issue-date=26 September 1989 |publication-date=19 February 1988}}</ref>

Altera and Xilinx continued unchallenged and quickly grew from 1985 to the mid-1990s, when competitors sprouted up, eroding significant market share. By 1993, Actel (now [[Microsemi]]) was serving about 18 percent of the market.<ref name="four" /> By 2010, Altera (31 percent), Actel (10 percent) and Xilinx (36 percent) together represented approximately 77 percent of the FPGA market.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sourcetech411.com/2013/04/top-fpga-companies-for-2013/|title=Top FPGA Companies For 2013|work=sourcetech411.com}}</ref>

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=== Market size ===

* 1985: First commercial FPGA : Xilinx XC2064<ref name="four" /><ref name=":0" />

* 1987: $14 million<ref name="four" />

* ≈1993: >$385 million<ref name="four" />