# Episode 68: The Wide World of FPGAs

- Show: [The Circuit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit)
- Published: 2024-05-22
- Length: 37m
- Episode: 69
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas
- Listen: https://share.transistor.fm/s/77977bcd

## Summary

Esam Elashmawi, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer of Lattice, explains the unique value of Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) as reprogrammable semiconductor devices that offer time-to-market advantages and differentiation over fixed-function ASICs. He details Lattice's leadership in the small and mid-range FPGA market, highlighting their Nexus and Avon platforms which prioritize power efficiency, performance, and small form factors for applications in communications, computing, industrial, and automotive sectors. Elashmawi discusses how FPGAs enable 'crypto agility' and rapid algorithm updates in AI and security use cases, allowing companies to protect their 'secret sauce' and adapt to vulnerabilities in the field without hardware changes. The conversation also covers Lattice's high barriers to entry, the growing dollar content per server, and specific AI implementations on client devices like laptops for battery management and user experience enhancement.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=6) Introduction: Esam Elashmawi and Lattice Background
- [1:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=103) What is an FPGA? Reprogrammable Semiconductors
- [5:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=320) Lattice's Market Position: Small and Mid-Range FPGAs
- [11:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=660) FPGAs vs. ASICs: Time-to-Market and Differentiation
- [16:25](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=985) Security Use Cases: Fast Boot and Crypto Agility
- [23:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=1382) Market Cyclicality and Server Market Growth
- [27:12](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=1632) Barriers to Entry and the China FPGA Market
- [32:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-circuit/2024-05-22-episode-68-the-wide-world-of-fpgas#t=1953) AI Applications: Data Centers and Client Devices

## Topics

- [Chips, FPGAs & semiconductors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/chips-and-fpgas)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Lattice (company)
- Intel (company)
- Altera (company)
- AMD (company)
- Xilinx (company)
- Nexus (product)
- Avon (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [How FPGAs become the gatekeepers of Physical AI Security](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-robot-report-podcast/2026-09-04-how-fpgas-become-the-gatekeepers-of-physical-ai-security) (The Robot Report Podcast)
- [Efinix FPGAs with Sammy Cheung](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-03-22-efinix-fpgas-with-sammy-cheung) (The Amp Hour)
- [Is FPGA the Best Engineering Career? With Adam Taylor](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ontrack/2026-04-14-is-fpga-the-best-engineering-career-with-adam-taylor) (OnTrack)
- [Heterogeneous Computing with Raja Koduri](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2024-07-18-heterogeneous-computing-with-raja-koduri) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Leading the RISC-V Revolution, SiFive Aims to Take the Computing Industry Throne](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/moores-lobby/2024-02-27-leading-the-risc-v-revolution-sifive-aims-to-take-the-computing-industry-throne) (Moore's Lobby)

## Citing this page

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