Bitstream generation
Beginner
The last step of an FPGA build: writing the file that sets every tiny memory and switch on the chip.
Novice
The final FPGA step: turning the placed and routed design into the configuration file, by looking up which bits control each lookup table, flip-flop, switch and pin, and setting them.
Expert
Serializing the configured state into the device’s configuration frames (addresses, data, CRC, commands) from the device database’s resource-to-bit map, for example 101 32-bit words per frame on Xilinx 7-series.
Explained in From hardware code to bitstream (Architectures).
See also: Open-source FPGA toolchain.