Distinctions
CPLDs were an evolutionary step from even smaller devices that preceded them, PLAs (first shipped by Signetics), and PALs. These in turn were preceded by standard logic products, that offered no programmability and were "programmed" by wiring several standard logic chips together.
The main distinction between FPGA and CPLD device architectures is that FPGAs are internally based on look-up tables (LUTs) while CPLDs form the logic functions with sea-of-gates (for example, sum of products).
Read more about this topic: Complex Programmable Logic Device
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“Distinctions drawn by the mind are not necessarily equivalent to distinctions in reality.”
—Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274)