Intel, the microprocessor company, plans to take on AMD’s Xilinx, an operating system serving the aerospace and defense market, with Future Edge FPGAs. FPGAs, or Field Programmable Gate Arrays, are semiconductors based on a matrix of configurable logic blocks. Intel is focusing on enhancing the competitiveness of Xilinx-based products with plans to start selling standard FPGAs.
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are programmable chips that can be easily modified to fit a variety of workloads or emerging industry requirements. Compared to a typical CPU that is more general-purpose, the chips can handle those workloads more effectively. FPGAs are also significantly more flexible than ASICs, which are processors designed specifically for a single processing task.
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For the edge and embedded markets, where it is critical to process data locally to control system-level latency and conserve power, Intel unveiled a new roadmap for the product line that includes mid-range Agilex FPGAs. The new chips will replace its Cyclone, Arria, and Stratix FPGAs built on older process nodes such as 20- and 28-nm.
Intel wants to add Xilinx to its existing Agilex family of FPGAs with an entirely new chip designed for its embedded system code “Sundance Mesa.” Executives at Intel have stated that the company is prepared to become a stronger competitor to AMD, which purchased FPGA juggernaut Xilinx for $49 billion at the beginning of the year, despite recent struggles to maintain the competition.
