Tech-trends

2026-09-24

QUESTION: In contemporary high speed data acquisition design, and electronic design in general, is the use of FPGAs risiing, or falling, or trending in some other direction?

Gemini said: The usage of FPGAs in high-speed data acquisition (DAQ) and general electronic design is rising significantly, but its role has fundamentally shifted.  Arista

Rather than serving purely as standalone customizable glue-logic, FPGAs have evolved into hybrid, highly integrated processing platforms. Overall market projections show steady growth, driven by expanding demands in 5G/6G networking, automated testing, defense radar, and edge AI.  Transparency Market Research

Key Trends Shaping FPGA Usage 1. Shift from "Raw FPGA Fabric" to Adaptive SoCs (SoCs & RFSoCs) Traditional pure logic-fabric FPGAs are being replaced by Adaptive System-on-Chips (SoCs), such as AMD/Xilinx Zynq/Versal or Intel Agilex platforms.

Integrated Data Converters: In high-speed DAQ, devices like RFSoCs embed high-speed Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) and Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs) directly onto the same silicon die alongside programmable logic and ARM processor cores.

Impact: Eliminates the bottleneck of routing ultra-high-speed signals across PCB traces, drastically lowering power consumption, board space, and signal integrity risks.