Will Structured ASICs Be Successful?

By Vince Hopkin, AMI Semiconductor -- 10/5/2005
Electronic News

What is a structured ASIC today?  How about a platform ASIC or even an embedded array from the past?

There are a lot of phrases circulating in the market today that in essence mean the same thing. They are really just marketing efforts to try to differentiate a product.  The bottom line is that many of the structured and platform ASICs today are very similar in architecture and offer identical value propositions.  The value of these products really breaks down to a few areas: quick turn ASIC development; low cost of entry (NRE) because the products are late-mask programmable; and ease of design due to the predefined cells within the ASIC and the design methodology used.

These values, by the way, are the same as those offered in the past by the gate array.  The products themselves are programmed, in many cases at a higher level (macro-cells vs. transistors), but offer the same basic benefits to the customer. 

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