Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: Mass produced custom chips
Message-ID: <1991Apr15.184709.27058@zoo.toronto.edu>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1991 18:47:09 GMT
References: <3329@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> <1991Apr15.154955.2452@sono.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology

In article <1991Apr15.154955.2452@sono.uucp> miklg@sono.uucp (Michael Goldman ) writes:
> I read about, and got some literature, on a chip from Phillips
>which is a programmable gate array with a programming time on the
>order of ~1 ms.  Their idea is that people would put their code
>into boolean, and *swap* it in and out of the gate array...
>I'm afraid without a certain momentum from a number of big users it
>won't catch on, but maybe !? 

I don't think it's going to be popular unless Philips is willing to publish
complete programming specifications, so you can generate programs for the
array without using proprietary software.  So far, the programmable-logic
manufacturers as a class get a grade of F- for their willingness to tell
mere mortals how to program the chips.  (I.e., they won't.)  Turkeys.
-- 
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry