FPGA
acronymnetworkingprogramming
Field-Programmable Gate Array: a chip whose logic can be rewired after it is manufactured.
It occupies the space between a general-purpose processor and an ASIC: slower and more expensive per unit than fixed silicon, far faster than software for the right problem, and - crucially - changeable. Vendors use them to ship hardware before a protocol is finished, to serve markets too small to justify a custom chip, and to fix in the field what would otherwise need a silicon respin. When a release note says a feature now runs in hardware on a platform that previously punted it to the processor, an FPGA is often what changed.
Also known as: field-programmable gate array, gate array