Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), which are pre-fabricated, programmable digital integrated circuits (ICs), provide easy access to state-of-the-art integrated circuit process technology, and in doing so, democratize this technology of our time. This book is about comparing the qualities of FPGA – their speed performance, area and power consumption, against custom-fabricated ICs, and exploring ways of mitigating their de ciencies. This work began as a question that many have asked, and few had the resources to answer – how much worse is an FPGA compared to a custom-designed chip? As we dealt with that question, we found that it was far more dif cult to answer than we anticipated, but that the results were rich basic insights on fundamental understandings of FPGA architecture. It also encouraged us to nd ways to leverage those insights to seek ways to make FPGA technology better, which is what the second half of the book is about. While the question “How much worse is an FPGA than an ASIC?” has been a constant sub-theme of all research on FPGAs, it was posed most directly, some time around May 2004, by Professor Abbas El Gamal from Stanford University to us – he was working on a 3D FPGA, and was wondering if any real measurements had been made in this kind of comparison. Shortly thereafter we took it up and tried to answer in a serious way.

The proceedings present a selection of refereed papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Electronic Engineering and Renewable Energy (ICEERE 2018) held during 15-17 April 2018, Saidi, Morocco.
The contributions from electrical engineers and experts highlight key issues and developments essential to the multifaceted field of electrical engineering systems and seek to address multidisciplinary challenges in Information and Communication Technologies. The book has a special focus on energy challenges for developing the Euro-Mediterranean regions through new renewable energy technologies in the agricultural and rural areas.
The book is intended for academia, including graduate students, experienced researchers and industrial practitioners working in the fields of Electronic Engineering and Renewable Energy.

"Introduction to Embedded System Design Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays" provides a starting point for the use of field programmable gate arrays in the design of embedded systems. The text considers a hypothetical robot controller as an embedded application and weaves around it related concepts of FPGA-based digital design. The book details: use of FPGA vis-à-vis general purpose processor and microcontroller; design using Verilog hardware description language; digital design synthesis using Verilog and Xilinx® SpartanTM 3 FPGA; FPGA-based embedded processors and peripherals; overview of serial data communications and signal conditioning using FPGA; FPGA-based motor drive controllers; and prototyping digital systems using FPGA.