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A Generic PCI Based FPGA Coprocessor?
graveyhead asks: "Inspired by a recent Slashdot article, I came across this fantastic package from the fine students in the Configurable Computing Laboratory at BYU: JHDL, which is a set of open source FPGA CAD tools. I am writing a proposal for a prototype system and I have a requirement for a 32 or 64 bit PCI card compatible with JHDL. I do not require any IP cores (which Xilinx seems to want to sell me hundreds of 'em), since our project uses its own custom cores. Also, I will not be building additional hardware around the FPGA processor, so the package needs to be fully self-contained. I simply need the ability to use JHDL to program the FPGA device over PCI under Linux, execute my circuit with parameterized values, and return the result. I found these boards, but I'm not sure which is appropriate or compatible, or if there are better alternatives that I am not finding in a similar price range (up to USD2000). Preferably, I want a chip with lots (1-10M+) of programmable gates."
I believe video coprocessors tend to be quite specialised for video ops.
Even if they weren't, programming a maths coprocessor is very different from programming an FPGA, and the things you can do are very different.
An FPGA is a programmable logic circuit, and you can connect almost any kind of digital electronics to it. From flashing lights to memory to network interfaces to bus interfaces (like PCI and USB) to whatever else turns you on.