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FPGA Platform

FPGA Platform. Ed F. Deprettere Leiden Embedded Research Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science. edd@liacs.nl. FPGA Technology. An FPGA is a prefabricated chip that can be configured to implement a particular circuit or architecture, merely

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FPGA Platform

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  1. FPGA Platform Ed F. Deprettere Leiden Embedded Research Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science edd@liacs.nl

  2. FPGA Technology An FPGA is a prefabricated chip that can be configured to implement a particular circuit or architecture, merely by downloading a particular sequence of bits. That sequence of bits is the software for the FPGA, in the same way as the micro program for a microprocessor consists of sets of bits. The FPGA fabric (hardware) consists of millions of look up tables (memory), flip-flops, programmable multiplexors, programmable interconnects, and gates, organized in thousands of configurable logic blocks (CLB) and input-output blocks (IOB). FPGA platform

  3. FPGA Technology (2) IOB switch matrix CLB FPGA platform

  4. M Connector: if M=1 A=B else no connection A B M M A B C (A,B,C) Mux: if M=1 C=A else C=B M F(A,B,C) S M Lookup table (stores Truth table) M M FPGA Technology Configuring (programming) is by means of loading values (bits) in small SRAM registers. FPGA platform

  5. CLB A number of LUTs, Muxes, Flip Flops, and XOR gates to implement functions without (combinational) or with (sequential) state. FPGA Technology (3) Current FPGAs also contain built-in operators, such as multipliers, and even built-in microprocessors, such as PowerPC or Arm processors. These are called hardcores. Softcores are microprocessors that are defined in terms of predefined programming bit strings. They configure part of the FPGA fabric to get the equivalent of an ISA. FPGA platform

  6. FPGA Technology • Virtex-4 has already over a billion transistors! • FPGA can take most advantage of Moore’s law • More an more logic available on the same die • CPUs in programmable logic • Hardcore = • Softcore = FPGA platform

  7. FPGA as software FPGAs implement circuits specified by downloadable sequences of bits. A circuit implemented on an FPGA is literally software. The big deal is that circuits can implement some computations hundreds or even thousands of times faster than microprocessors. Circuits operate concurrently at bit level, arithmetic level, and process level: they have a tremendous potential for parallelism. FPGA platform

  8. Example FPGA platform

  9. Block Block Q VLE DCT HuffTables QTables Block Block Packets Block Q VLE DCT P1 HuffTables QTables Packets Block P1 PPC1 B1 FIFO0 FIFO0 PPC1 B1 FIFO1 FIFO2 VB1 VB3 PPC2 ax FIFO0 FIFO0 PPC2 B2 VB4 VB2 Speed up as compared to sequential implementation (single PPC) is a factor of almost 4. Example JPEG application FPGA platform: PPC : hardcore μB : softcore Fifo : circuit 3Fifo : RAM block X : cross bar circuit ax : accelerator (circuit) FPGA platform

  10. Message Circuits are not hardware. Hardware is connecting physical components : it is the FPGA fabric. In FPGAs, the fabric is programmed to configure circuits, much as an ISA microprocessor is programmed to make sense out of register files, data path, and control. Software designers tend to see FPGAs as hardware. FPGA circuit-design languages are still called hardware description languages, algorithms ported to circuits are still called hardware algorithms, and coprocessing circuits are still called hardware in hardware/software co-design. FPGA platform

  11. Message (2) It is not a matter of software vs. hardware, it is a matter of temporal (sequential) vs. spatial (parallel). Computation models must consider both temporal and spatial models. The classic (and current) view that computer science is exclusively temporal and electrical engineering is exclusively spatial is no longer adequate. FPGA platform

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