Dear all,
Iam intrested in knowing the funtionalities of an FPGA.

1) How they are being programmed and,
2) it could be used for 'what sort of designs'?
3) What are the things a person should be familiar with to use an FPGA in his application?

As of what i know is.,
Its an empty chip capable of programming logic circuits in it(called configuring) which could be reconfigured.
It preceds the step to ASIC development.
Using VHDL language the logic blocks are programmed.

This is a rough info i have got, but willing to get some simpler explanation to understand the use of FPGA and its method of programming?

4) Modelsim and ACCEL software (for VHDL programming): Does this both have any differnece in supporting the FPGA (in other words) are both compatible to program any FPGA from any Vendor. i would like to know, which is better to learn?

When i did my search i couldnt get any better explanation that could satisfy a beginner!

I would like to get some hold on the above described, with your valuble suggestions.

I welcome your suggestions!

Thanking you,
Suresh.