Understanding FPGA: Architecture, Advantages, and Market Overview

Integrated circuit chips are divided into digital and analog types; digital chips include memory and logic chips such as CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and ASICs, while FPGA (Field‑Programmable Gate Array) is also a kind of logic chip.

FPGA evolved from PAL, GAL, and CPLD technologies. Using computer‑aided design, designers create schematics, Boolean equations, or hardware description language code, which is then synthesized, placed, routed, and simulated to generate a data file that configures the FPGA, enabling users to design, prototype, and even produce custom integrated circuits.

The core difference between FPGA and other logic chips (CPU, GPU, ASIC) is that FPGA’s logic blocks and interconnects are not fixed; users can program the connections and logic functions via EDA tools, whereas ASIC, CPU, and GPU have permanently fixed hardware structures.

FPGA consists of three programmable circuit types—Configurable Logic Blocks (CLB), Input/Output Blocks (IOB), and Programmable Interconnect Resources (PIR)—plus SRAM to store configuration data. CLBs implement logic functions, IOBs handle external pin interfaces, and PIR provides flexible routing between blocks.

Because FPGA must be re‑programmable, its combinational logic uses Look‑Up Tables (LUTs), which are essentially small RAMs that store pre‑computed truth tables; this structure enables fast reconfiguration and high performance.

Key characteristics of FPGA:

High programmability and flexibility.

Short development cycle (6‑12 months vs. 14‑24 months for ASIC/DSP/SOC).

Parallel computing efficiency, allowing multiple instructions to execute simultaneously.

These advantages make FPGA suitable for a wide range of applications, especially in communication, industrial automation, data centers, automotive electronics, and artificial intelligence.

Market data (Frost & Sullivan) shows that China’s FPGA market was about ¥150.3 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach ¥332.2 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 17.2 %.

Application breakdown (2020):

Communications – ¥62.1 billion (41.3 % of market), CAGR 17.5 %.

Industrial – ¥47.4 billion (31.5 % of market), CAGR 16.1 %.

Data Centers – ¥16.1 billion (10.7 % of market), CAGR 16.6 %.

Automotive – ¥9.5 billion, CAGR 22.7 %.

Artificial Intelligence – ¥5.8 billion, CAGR 16.9 %.

Foreign vendors (Xilinx, Intel, Lattice) dominate the high‑end segment, holding over 80 % of shipments in 2019, while domestic companies (Anlogic, Unigroup, etc.) focus on sub‑500K capacity and >28 nm processes, gradually achieving substitution in the mid‑low‑end market.

Logical capacity distribution (2019): 100K‑below 38.2 %, 100K‑500K 31.7 %, 500K‑1M 24.4 %, >1M 5.7 %.

Process technology distribution (2019): 28‑90 nm processes account for 63.3 % of the market, >28 nm is the main target for domestic substitution due to restrictions on advanced nodes.

Overall, FPGA’s programmable flexibility, rapid time‑to‑market, and parallel processing make it a strategic component across multiple industries and a growing segment of China’s semiconductor ecosystem.