Soft-Core Processor on an ASIC vs. FPGA

A soft-core processor can be executed via different semiconductor devices, such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). An ASIC is customized for a specific application, whereas the FPGA’s programmable logic blocks and interconnects allow a single FPGA to be used and reused in several different applications.

On an ASIC, the soft-core and other design logic can be synthesized into a gate-level netlist that describes connectivity of the electronic design. Logic gates are placed and routed as per the netlist and turned into photomasks to create the chip. The final product is hardwired logic gates formed from transistors and their interconnections. For an FPGA, the netlist is used to generate a configuration file that will be used to program lookup tables and configurable logic blocks within the FPGA.

Related: What is a Soft-Core Processor?