4.6 Support

Obtaining advanced technical answers or technical clarification from a manufacturer can be challenging. Manufacturers will provide designers with some phone support, but the trend is moving toward e-mail support with direct access to answer databases to previous questions online. Make sure to find out what manufacturer support resources are available and get team members signed up for access. Generally, advanced technical support requires current manufacturer design tool subscription status. Many design topics have been addressed by previous questions so the online answer database is a good place to start when a question arises. Additional sources for information include manufacturer magazines and newsletters and online forums, both hosed by the manufacturer and independent.

       Access to technical support is important to efficient FPGA design. FPGA design can be complicated and there are often several ways to implement a design function or control a software tool. Each approach will have advantages and disadvantages, with some options being more efficient than others in terms of resource utilization or effort required. In an ideal situation a new FPGA designer would have direct, unlimited access to a group of engineers with extensive experience with each phase of the design and verification cycle. However, this is seldom the case. Especially in small organizations, the engineer will not have direct contact or very limited contact with experienced FPGA designers. In this situation alternative sources of technical support, knowledge and training must be pursued.

       Designers may also have access to FAEs (field application engineers). FAEs may work for the FPGA distributor or manufacturer. The individual FAEs available for support will depend on the relationship the organization has developed. Extensive FAE support can be difficult to obtain due to the large numbers of accounts they generally support. FAEs can generally provide good guidance to specific manufacturer documentation and resources.

       Support will depend on the size of the design and volume of business with the manufacturer, the organization’s relationship with the manufacturer, representative and distributor and the available technical resources. Generally the support group will be the same for the life of a project, so give some consideration to the selection of the support to be provided. The distributor an organization works with will influence who provides engineering support. Generally there will be more than one distributor to choose from, depending on the market. Make an effort to establish a relationship with available support personnel early in the design cycle. It can be easier to get timely support if support personnel are already familiar with the project and application. Distributions may also offer regional training and technical, training that an keep design teams up to speed on the last architectures, tool options and design flows.

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