In the latest episode of Elektor Engineering Insights, I talked with Kevin Hubbard, founder of Black Mesa Labs and long-time FPGA designer. Hed traces the history of programmable logic — and how these devices went from factory-burned ROMs to reconfigurable chips powering modern digital systems.
 

 

From One-Time PALs to Reprogrammable FPGA

Hubbard explains that early PALs were single-use — once programmed, they couldn’t be changed. Later versions became flash-based or SRAM-based, allowing their configurations to be reloaded from external memory at power-up.

This ability to redefine hardware instantly turned the FPGA into a powerful platform for experimentation.

Why FPGAs Still Feel Like Magic

Unlike microcontrollers such as the Arduino, which execute code one instruction at a time, FPGAs perform many operations simultaneously. Hubbard highlights live video generation as a prime example.

This immediacy — seeing your hardware design come alive onscreen — is what continues to inspire hobbyists and engineers alike.

The Price of Entry: Then and Now

In the 1990s, FPGA tools and devices were prohibitively expensive. Hubbard recalls asking for an evaluation board costing around $500, while even a basic software license added another few hundred dollars.
Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA chip
Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA chip
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“You’d run your design overnight and hope it finished by morning,” he laughs.

Today, with affordable boards and free toolchains, anyone can experiment with parallel logic and digital design — a far cry from those early days.

FPGA tutorials and projects at Elektor

Watch the full interview here!

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