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Home / Glossary / FPGA
Glossary · Device

FPGA

Field Programmable Gate Array

In plain language

A chip that can be rewired by software after it leaves the factory.

The metaphor

Like a blank circuit board kit that gets its wiring from a program once it is in the field.

Going deeper

How it works

  • Most chips do one job for life; this kind can be reconfigured.
  • It is used in networking gear, test equipment and specialist devices.
  • The configuration can be updated like firmware.
  • Small businesses almost never deal with it directly.
In practice
  • A network appliance uses one to speed up traffic handling.
  • A video device uses one to compress footage.
  • A security researcher reprograms one to test a design.

A question owners ask

Does this matter for my office?

Almost never. You may see it in a product's technical specifications, and it needs no action from you.

Related terms
BIOSBasic Input/Output SystemCCTVClosed-circuit TelevisionCSUChannel Service UnitEndpointESNElectronic Serial NumberFirmwareGPSGlobal Positioning SystemGPUGraphics Processing Unit

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