Floating- to fixed-point MATLAB algorithm conversion for FPGAs
By Tom Hill, Xilinx
June 04, 2007 -- dspdesignline.com
In a recent survey conducted by AccelChip Inc. (recently acquired by Xilinx), 53% of the respondents identified floating- to fixed-point conversion as the most difficult aspect of implementing an algorithm on an FPGA (Figure 1).
Figure 1. AccelChip DSP design challenges survey.
June 04, 2007 -- dspdesignline.com
In a recent survey conducted by AccelChip Inc. (recently acquired by Xilinx), 53% of the respondents identified floating- to fixed-point conversion as the most difficult aspect of implementing an algorithm on an FPGA (Figure 1).

Figure 1. AccelChip DSP design challenges survey.
Although MATLAB is a powerful algorithm development tool, many of its benefits are reduced during the fixed-point conversion process. For example, new mathematical errors are introduced into the algorithm because of the reduced precision of the fixed-point arithmetic. You must rewrite code to replace high-level functions and operators with low-level models that reflect the actual hardware macro-architecture. And simulation run times can be as much as 50 times longer. For these reasons, MATLAB, the overwhelming choice for algorithm development, is often abandoned in favor of C/C++ for fixed-point modeling.
To read the full article, click here
Related Semiconductor IP
- DFI 6.0 Verification IP
- TSMC 7nm 0V75 / 0V9 ESD Local Clamp – Low Cap
- TSMC 65nm 3V3 ESD Local Clamp – Rad Hard
- TSMC 5nm 1V8, 1.2V and 0.9V ESD Local Protection – Low Cap
- TSMC 3nm 3V3 ESD Local Clamp
Related Articles
- Implementing floating-point algorithms in FPGAs or ASICs
- How to Design SmartNICs Using FPGAs to Increase Server Compute Capacity
- FPGAs - The Logical Solution to the Microcontroller Shortage
- From a Lossless (~1.5:1) Compression Algorithm for Llama2 7B Weights to Variable Precision, Variable Range, Compressed Numeric Data Types for CNNs and LLMs
Latest Articles
- Scalable AXI4 Transaction Monitoring for Mixed-Criticality SoCs: From Phase-Level Precision to ID-Level Efficiency
- Hardware-managed heterogeneous high-bandwidth memory and flash in LLM inference systems
- LACE: Large Language Model Aided Multi-Agent Framework for Agile RISC-V Instruction Extension
- A Process-Aware Hybrid Si/IGO Monolithic-3D 6T SRAM with BEOL Pass-Gates for the 2nm Node
- Automated Estimation of MBIST Area and Test Time in Heterogeneous Memory IPs via Stacked Ensemble Framework