Introduction to

FPGAs in Parallel Computing

Sebastian Grygiel

What will we learnWhat is an FPGA

Differences between FPGA and a conventional processor

How does FPGA work

Advantages and disadvantages of using FPGAs

Applications of FPGAs

What is an FPGA

Field Programmable Gate ArrayA chip - in a package like ordinary

processors

Device containing large amounts of simple, but versatile components

Reconfigurable silicon surface

How does an FPGA differ from a conventional processor

How does a conventional processors work“Conventional” processor - x86, ARM, AVR and others

Faster clock speeds possible

Clock cycle usually executes around one instruction

Sequential execution model

Limited parallel access to available chip resources

How is an FPGA different from such processorLower clock speeds

A single clock cycle is not related to an instruction

Programs take space and not time

Programmer’s PerspectiveClear division of control and data flow

High awareness of where the data is

Moving data is easy, changing its flow is hard

Advantages and Disadvantages of FPGAs

Advantages of FPGAsEquivalent parallel execution of all instructions

Can accelerate dataflow-heavy algorithms by factors of up to several tens

High power efficiency

Disadvantages of FPGAsExpensive to buy

Expensive to program

Some algorithms cannot be implemented efficiently

Applications of FPGAs

Electronic DevicesHome Internet routers

Medical equipment

Cameras

Hardware controllers

Industrial and Research ApplicationsNano-scale physical computation

Weather simulation

Seismic data analysis

Financial analytics

Low latency systems

Alternatives to FPGAs?

Conclusion

FPGAs are usually more expensive,

different from conventional processors,

but can be used to greatly accelerate some algorithms.

Further Information and ResourcesMaxeler machine is available on the campus

Contact Dr Ingo Frommholz if you are interested in doing a research project with the machine