A New Architecture for High-Performance FPGAs

AT&T has developed a new FPGA architecture, called the ORCA architecture, which extends FPGA applicability into a larger domain than is possible with today's parts, including datepath intensive designs such as memory controllers, signal processing parts, and telecommunication interfaces. Key to the suitability of the ORCA to these jobs is the fact that each of its basic blocks is capable of processing four bits. So, for example, a 16 bit adder requires exactly 4 blocks, not 9 or 16 as in other architectures.