A Practical Look at the Shift from fixed ASSP to programmable FPGA - A Practical Look at the Shift from fixed ASSP to programmable FPGA It usually starts with a system that works. The architecture is proven, the product is shipping, and the core ASSP device at the center of it all has been reliable for years. Over time, though, the system begins to stretch in new directions: higher bandwidth requirements, added services appear; updated protocols become standards. This drives customers to ask for combinations of features that weren’t part of the initial plan. First, those changes are absorbed at the edges. Then they start to press against the core ASSP device. In one recent case, a team found themselves relying on a well-established optical transport ASSP that had reached 400G and served as the backbone of their design. It had done its job well. But as requirements evolved, the gaps became harder to work around. Certain client protocols were not well supported, and the system needed to handle a broader mix of services than the original design anticipated. At the same time, the ASSP vendor was unclear on their roadmap and the business justification. Building a new ASSP is becoming increasingly difficult to justify - not only are mask costs increasing for advanced process nodes, but the development effort and (in particular) design verification costs can be enormous. At the same time there are competing priorities for any silicon developer, especially in hot new areas like AI The team looked at their options. Continuing along the same path meant waiting for the next generation that was uncertain. Building new silicon of their own would require committing to a development cycle that stretched well beyond their product timelines, with costs that did not clearly align with the scale of the opportunity. The volumes were meaningful, but not of the kind that make custom silicon an obvious choice. In conjunction, another concern was becoming more visible. The system’s evolution was tied to a single supplier’s decisions: roadmap, pricing, and feature set. That dependency had been manageable when the path forward was clear. It became much harder to justify when it wasn’t. So, the team shifted perspective. Instead of asking how to extend the existing device, they asked how to de-couple the system from it. They moved to an Altera programmable FPGA platform and began from an existing base of functionality that already covered much of what the ASSP had provided. From there, they shaped the implementation to match their needs by adding protocol support, adjusting feature combinations, and aligning the system more closely with how it was actually being used. The new system was designed with the future in mind. It was built to evolve. While ASSP business justification can be challenging, the FPGA is not - the market is healthy, diverse and will continue to justify new generations of products to be developed. The engineering investment in the current generation can be ported to the next generation of FPGAs, reducing power and increasing throughput/features of the final product The same foundation could also be reused and extended across additional systems, allowing subsequent designs to start from a known base rather than repeating the full development cycle. Operationally, this had ripple effects beyond engineering. Hardware variants could be reduced. Inventory became easier to manage. Planning was no longer dependent on aligning product cycles with external silicon releases. The platform itself became the anchor point. What makes this story notable is not the specific technology choice. It is how many of these elements are now appearing together. Systems are expected to support more variation. Requirements are less predictable. Development cycles are under pressure. At the same time, the traditional model of waiting for the next fixed-function device does not always provide a clear path forward. In that environment, decisions are less about replacing one component with another and more about choosing how much control to retain over the system’s evolution. For this team, the answer was to move toward a platform that could evolve with them. 👉 Click here to learn more about Agilex 7 FPGAs