CNSV: The FPGA: 40 Years of Change

This is a Non-CNET Event:

https://californiaconsultants.org/event/the-fpga-40-years-of-change/

Tue, Mar 10 2026, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm PDT

In 1984, the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) was invented at Silicon Valley startup Xilinx by its co-founder Ross Freeman. It was not an obviously good technology as it had serious drawbacks in speed, cost, power, and capacity.  However, its novel design transformed the technology industry as it rode the wave of Moore’s Law. As this transformation was not a straight road, companies that did not recognize fundamental industry changes created by the FPGA fell by the wayside.  If companies did not stretch to find new uses for this technology, or did not deploy its resources in building a new ecosystem, they also failed.

Xilinx’s FPGA invention led to the major industry transformation of the Fabless semiconductor model, and step-by-step Xilinx navigated this field of potential failure. These steps tell of a company growing…