>IMO, a big part of the future lies in FPGA type technology.  Just look
>at the PIC line-up, scores of different chips each available in assorted
>form factors.  It's a manufacturing/supply chain nightmare.  I honestly
>believe that in time, instead of buying a PIC/Atmel/805x/HC-11/etc.
>chip, we will purchase an IP rights license on a per unit basis.  With
>your license your FPGA development environment will "permit" you to
>place the functionality into a single FPGA or 1,000,000 units if so
>allowed.

hang on a minute. Is this not what happens with the SX series chips and
their "virtual peripherals"? If so why are they not walking all over the PIC
line? The basic chips are faster, and yet they do not seem to be making
headway, rather falling by the wayside as an "also ran".

>DRM (Digital Rights Management) is the key to making it all
>work, and I think that DRM will definitely be a big part of the modern
>embedded engineer's future, but I digress.
>
>What do you all think?  Can "soft" cpu technology completely replace
>discrete micro's?

I have seen this argument for FPGA devices for years, all the time this
point about having one type of chip in stock, and programming it to behave
the way you want, using IP modules etc. But somehow when one gets stuck into
trying to do this you realise that the "one size fits all" is just too big
for so many jobs, and too small for many more. The costs involved do not
match the supposed stock savings. There are times when a 14 pin PIC (16F630)
with minimal hardware peripherals is exactly what is needed, while at other
times the 28 pin line with some sensible selection of hardware helpers
inside matches the job. Other times the 40 pin and bigger packages are
needed for the I/O capability.

The "one size fits all" package can also be too large to fit the available
space. For this reason I am looking at using one of the 14 pin devices in a
project, and how would you seriously fit such a programmable device in an 8
pin package?

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