FPGA Insights has engaged in an exclusive interview with Jithin Pothuvath, FPGA Engineer at GlobalTech (I) Pvt. Ltd.
Q1) Can you provide an overview of your experience with FPGA design projects mentioning a few that you’ve worked on, starting with a brief introduction?
I am an FPGA developer with over five years of experience in digital design and FPGA-based projects. During my career, I have had the opportunity to work on a variety of FPGA design projects, each contributing to my growth as a developer. Those experiences have not only honed my FPGA design skills but also allowed me to work with cutting-edge technologies and collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams. In the future, I’m excited to continue exploring FPGA-based solutions for emerging applications such as Image Processing Systems, Data processing systems, Cryptography, etc…
Q2) Can you explain the benefits of using FPGAs over other types of processors?
Parallelism: FPGAs inherently support parallelism, enabling the execution of multiple tasks concurrently. This makes them efficient for applications like signal processing, image recognition, etc…
Security: FPGAs can offer enhanced security.FPGAs can be configured to include hardware security features such as cryptography.
Every FPGA-based product is done in a unique way. So unauthorized tampering can be avoided.
Q3) What are the most significant trends observed in the FPGA industry over the past year? How will these trends shape the industry’s future?
FPGA’s increased adoption across a wide range of sectors, including AI, IoT, automotive, and telecommunications industries will pave the way for parallelism. As I said earlier FPGA can process parallel tasks at the same time. This tempts the medium-scale industries to make use of this feature and it will make FPGA much more popular in the industry.
Q4) How do you see FPGA development evolving to meet the demands of modern applications and complex workloads?
FPGA industries will continue to adapt to meet the requirements of modern applications and workloads by providing enhanced security features, parallel processing architecture, and energy-efficient solutions.
Nowadays various tools are developed by vendors to make FPGA accessible to software programmers.
Q5) Key drivers behind the increasing adoption of FPGAs in various applications and industries?
Government initiatives like “Make in India” and “Digital India” paved the way for more indigenous manufacturing and technology development. FPGAs are being used in various components and devices manufactured locally. FPGAs provide a cost-effective way for startups to develop and prototype hardware-intensive applications.
Q6) Sectors that stand to benefit the most from FPGA integration, and why?
The agricultural department should make use of FPGAs.
FPGAs can accelerate image processing tasks for plant health analysis, weed detection, and crop yield estimation using drones or cameras mounted on agricultural equipment.
FPGAs can also process data from various sensors used in agriculture, including soil moisture sensors, weather stations, and GPS devices. This enables real-time monitoring and decision-making for irrigation, fertilization, and pest control.
If we can use our technology to get an increased result in food production. Famine and drought will stay away and we can make our future generations much more Healthier.
Q7) The role of FPGAs in accelerating AI applications and advancements expected in the near future.
FPGA can do great things, especially in the fields of robotics and IoT. In both robotics and IoT, FPGAs can provide a balance between customization, real-time processing, and energy efficiency, making them a valuable component for building advanced and specialized systems in these fields.
Their adaptability allows developers to meet the unique hardware requirements of their applications, whether it’s controlling a robot’s movements or managing data at the edge of an IoT network.
Q8) Advice for students and professionals interested in pursuing a career in FPGA development to stay updated with the latest trends and technologies.
- Have to bring an Immense thirst to execute things rather than hectic learning. So whatever going on inside the hardware he/she should be able to understand intuitively.
- Initially seek internships or apprenticeships in the same field rather than looking for a job.
- Start with digital logic basics and learn FPGA architecture and development tools.
- Join various platforms where you can find people with similar interests then the journey will become much easier.
- And Believe that Hardware is as programmable as software.
