PF 2025

CPLD and FPGA technologies represent two distinct approaches to programmable logic that engineers need to understand to make informed design choices. Both technologies implement custom digital functions without fabricating application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), reducing development time and cost.

FPGAs drive some of the world's fastest trading platforms, processing market data and executing trading decisions within nanoseconds. What's behind this speed? The answer lies in the architecture: FPGAs implement tasks in parallel, customized hardware, while CPUs process them sequentially using general-purpose instructions. At the core of this programmable logic is a simple yet powerful component: the Lookup Table, or LUT.

Pursuit of speed has propelled Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to the forefront of trading technology. Why are these chips so valued? It’s their ability to create customized hardware circuits that are adaptable, reprogrammable, and built to accelerate calculations exactly as needed.