Mask for a Mask-Programmed Gate Array: (Greaves 1995, ECL for Ring Network)
A gate array comes in standard die sizes containing a fixed layout of configurable cells.
Historically, there were two main forms of gate array:
Advantage: Quick design and fabrication, Disadvantage: Large waste of silicon area, low performance.
FPGAs are now used almost exclusively, with mask-programmable reserved for small analog and/or very-high-frequency applications.
| 9: (C) 2008-18, DJ Greaves, University of Cambridge, Computer Laboratory. |