Masataka Ohta writes:
No, it is not.
Unless individual logic gates are being designed into the hardware to
perform the desired function, it's firmware.
I haven't heard of this type of hard-wired logic being used for much of
anything except RISC processor instruction logic in ages. Given the
cost of developing chip logic from scratch for a specific purpose, and
particularly for the execution of complex tasks, I can't imagine anyone
doing it for any type of network device. The trend historically has
always been in the opposite direction, with more and more being
accomplished by firmware and microprogramming. The main distinction
between firmware and microgramming is that the former is more accessible
(and possibly modifiable) than the latter.