An Assessment of the Suitability of FPGA-Based Systems for Use in Digital Signal Processing

FPGAs have been proposed as high-performance alternatives to DSP processors. This paper quantitatively compares FPGA performance against DSP processors and ASICs using actual applications and existing CAD tools and devices. Performance measures were based on actual multiplier performance with FPGAs, DSP processors and ASICs. This study demonstrates that FPGAs can provide an order of magnitude better performance than DSP processors and can in many cases approach or exceed ASIC levels of performance.