The unique architecture of FPGA boards makes them useful for a wide array of tasks. From controlling LED displays for marketing to controlling radios for communication, a business can put the power of an FPGA to good use. It is more than likely that your business can be helped by implementing FPGA technology as well.
An FPGA can help businesses that use radio
With the digitization of practically everything in business, an FPGA really shines. The FPGA has more power and freedom than a Central Processing Unit (CPU) to create software defined radio. Businesses that communicate using software defined radio will be able to enjoy the extra bandwidth that an FPGA can provide. Creating a digitized communications center over a transceiver radio is no longer hard. Just use an FPGA with analog-to-digital converters. The good news is that a personal computer is not needed to run such a rig. This gets rid of the headaches associated with operating systems. The FPGA that acts as the central control is programmed once and then forgotten. Popular and easily accessible brands of FPGA boards can be used. The biggest help for a business would be the new freedom to communicate without having to use Windows, Linux, Android or Mac software.
Your music business can benefit from the use of an FPGA
A musician who is a businessman or woman can definitely use an FPGA board. Sound sampling can take on new frontiers. If you remember the synthesizers of yesteryear, then an Altera FPGA board will be able to do even more. Programming with Altera FPGA boards in the studio may become one of your second favorite things to do, aside from making music. What are the benefits of using an FPGA in your music business? One benefit is the ease of converting audio analog files into digital ones. With a USB 3.0 input into your computer from the FPGA board, there is plenty of bandwidth for high-fidelity recording. Also, an FPGA board can play back sequences from memory, making it easier to record, edit or hear your music again. Did you just do an excellent guitar riff? Using your new FPGA board can play it back for you with ease.
A graphic design business is a nice fit for an FPGA board
Image processing and FPGA boards go together like bread and butter. Graphic enhancements are suited to the architecture that is contained in an FPGA. Because of this, these boards are a great tool for those who make money creating graphics. They are powerful enough to handle large files. A microcontroller connected to a display relies on bandwidth and the refresh frequency of the display needs to be high. This is to present to the graphic designer (or other users) a high-resolution image. Because an FPGA board crunches the data from images differently than video cards, there are fewer problems for the LCD display. When using an FPGA card, if there is a problem with low-resolution image quality, simply add custom hardware. This is done in the program directly controlled by the designer, usually Verilog or VHDL. As an extra side benefit, the FPGA card will probably use less energy than powerful video cards. This saves the graphic designer money on electricity.
FPGA technology can help cloud businesses
Online servers are now being called the cloud. Cloud servers are starting to become centralized repositories of immense proportions. When a business that offers cloud services needs to become agile they will see the need of using FPGA boards. For these businesses programming with Altera FPGA cards is a necessity. Major companies have already turned to FPGA boards for their cloud systems. A GPU or CPU is basically “written in stone” in what they will accept for their computational work. As an alternative, the flexibility of an FPGA is desirable when traffic or new circumstances require an upgrade. The reconnection abilities of groups of FPGA cards are superior to having to rewire or upgrade GPUs. The abilities of an FPGA are defined by software, as opposed to a GPU, that is limited by its internal design. The ability to test a new cloud environment by internally changing the connections inside an FPGA is a time and money saver. There is no such ability to change the connections inside a GPU. It is therefore smart to consider using FPGAs instead of GPUs in your next cloud system.
Businesses should use FPGA cards for their machine learning projects
Artificial intelligence, or machine learning, is all the rage these days. Machine learning uses algorithms to compute past outcomes and predict future results. The actual hardware to make this happen has been the GPU accompanied by a CPU. Now it can be changed to the FPGA card. For example, programming with Altera FPGA cards can help in a car factory that uses machine learning. In the car factory, parts are matched to cars either by humans or by robots. A person can make sure that the right parts are being put in the right car. A camera equipped with artificial intelligence can do the same. A car part on a factory line may be the wrong color. It needs to be changed immediately to prevent work stoppage and loss of funds. The human can do this task immediately. Artificial intelligence also needs to have this same speed. Waiting for the image of the car part with the incorrect color to be uploaded to the cloud would take extra time. With an FPGA board, the time is less. The FPGA board is powerful enough to process the image in the machine learning program, identify the wrong part and have the problem fixed quickly. This saves the company time and money.
Real estate development companies can gain from using FPGAs
Architects and their employers frequently use Computer Aided Drafting, also called CAD. These CAD programs are graphic-intensive. As has been mentioned, FPGA boards are very comfortable with image processing. This strength is seen as the architect digitally creates future physical buildings on a computer screen. Superior performance on 3D CAD models is accomplished by using specialized FPGA cards. The cards are stacked together for low-latency performance. In this scenario, the FPGA is a replacement for the Application Specific Integrated Circuit ASIC. The ASIC also uses more energy than a comparable FPGA. Once again, those who design buildings to exacting specifications can see savings in their energy bill. They can also appreciate the flexibility of the FPGA board since the ASIC, like the GPU, is designed for limited applications.
