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FPGA's are pratically dealt as if the were burned ROMs. There's no easy way to soft-update an FPGA except for expensive tools to do so. Your bare OS can't do t
by anthk 2y ago
FPGA's are pratically dealt as if the were burned ROMs.
There's no easy way to soft-update an FPGA except for expensive tools to do so. Your bare OS can't do that. A vendor can't update an FPGA based hardware at will.
- viraptor 2y agoWhat's incorrect. FP in FPGA stands for field-programmable. That's the big thing about them - you can easily reprogram them after deployment with minimal effort. Also https://github.com/trabucayre/openFPGALoader https://github.com/trabucayre/openFPGALoader
- spookie 2y agoDepends. There are FPGA that can only be programmed once, others a limited amount, and others that have no limit.
- viraptor 2y agoYou mean with blown fuses? Sure, but that's specific implementation's choice, not an FPGA property. You could also make an SSD read-only with enough effort, but that doesn't describe SSDs in general.
- spookie 2y agoI am noting a limitation. Previous claims might've led some thinking this was not the case for all.
- exe34 2y agowhere "minimal effort" might mean soldering wires to a surface mounted chip. for you maybe - my own hands aren't that stable.
- viraptor 2y agoThat's only if you want to do it externally. The claim was: > There's no easy way to soft-update an FPGA except for expensive tools to do so. If the implementation wants to support updating the FPGA then the programming can be wired in the device itself and accessible fully in software. Or even the attached SoC can reprogram it with IAP. (https://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/aemDocuments/documents/FPGA/ApplicationNotes/ApplicationNotes/microsemi_polarfire_fpga_auto_update_and_in_application_programming_application_note_ac466_v7.pdf https://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/aemDocuments/documents/F...) Basically it's not a technology limitation. It's the choice of the people implementing it - they can make it anywhere from trivial to almost impossible to reprogram.
- exe34 2y agocrucially, it's not a choice for the user, who can treat it as hardware. so free software developers can write code on top of it and pretend it's part of the hardware - not that it's "free" as the poster above was trying to say.