FPGA design heads into the Cloud computing

From online payments and electronic banking transactions to organizing company documents and mission-critical supply chain management systems, cloud computing now plays an ever-present role in both consumer and enterprise applications. In general, cloud computing's "pay-as-you-go" elasticity – requiring little upfront investment – tends to be its main value proposition to IT departments, although security and service disruptions are potential risks that come to mind.
But what does cloud computing mean for the FPGA design engineer? How can seemingly unlimited server resources help engineers in our daily work? This article examines the benefits and potential pitfalls of cloud computing in FPGA design from a practical, day-to-day viewpoint.

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