Artifact Details

Title

Programmable Logic: Computing Bit by Bit, lecture by Dr. Steve Trimberger

Catalog Number

102703033

Type

Moving image

Description

From abstract: " With the introduction of the first commercial programmable logic devices (PLD) in the mid-'70s, the door was opened to a host of applications including telecommunications, audio and video broadcasting and storage where the combination of performance, cost and power efficiency are particularly important.

Programmable logic blurs the line between software and hardware. These chips contain a program in its memory that allows them to be re-programmed. That sounds like software. But the program creates logic gates and wires connecting them. That sounds like hardware. Performance improvement gained by using programmable logic instead of microprocessors can be a factor of one hundred, with comparable power reduction to match. But today we don't see programmable logic computers. Or at least, we don't know them when we see them. Do we need new definitions and new dividing lines?

Steve Trimberger, holder of over 150 PLD patents and Xilinx Fellow, will discuss the challenges and key milestones in the development of programmable logic and its impact on computing history. He will outline the successes and failures of configurable computing, and discuss the prospects for the future in this thought provoking session. Join us as the CHM continues celebrating the Salute to the Semiconductor with this Soundbyte event on Wednesday, July 22, 2009."

Date

2009-07-22

Credits

Trimberger, Steve

Publisher

Computer History Museum

Place of Publication

Mountain View, CA, US

Format

DVCAM

Category

Lecture

Lot Number

X5463.2010