Developers have long been intrigued by the potential of reconfigurable computing (RC) to accelerate some computationally-intensive high-performance computing (HPC) applications. But the barriers to achieving the order-of-magnitude performance gains RC can theoretically provide are well known: the complexity of programming for RC devices and the limitations of the hardware and software traditionally used to support them. As a result, software developers have focused on fine tuning applications to run faster on standard microprocessors, and have achieved important percentage gains.

Now, emerging systems like the Cray XD1 are bringing RC application acceleration into the … Read More → "Reconfigurable Computing in Real-World Applications"

It’s a cold February morning in a well-hidden corner of Silicon Valley. The air is perfectly still. The sun is just rising above the hills, although it isn’t clearly visible through the dissipating ground fog cast over the region by the bay. There is a light frost on the grass, even though the temperature has been in the 40s all night. That’s one of the big issues with fictional, metaphoric introductions to technical articles – continuity problems. These things clearly would never stand up to an engineering design review.

… Read More → "Planning Ahead"

In public discussions about embedded multi-processing and FPGAs, most of the focus has been on DSP. But there’s another application area requiring embedded multi-processing that has remained elusive, not because of silicon deficiencies, but due to the lack of an easy methodology. That application is packet processing. Packet processing performance as high as 10 Gbps is possible in FPGAs, so the silicon is fast, but even single gigabit performance has required RTL and a hardware approach to design.

Many companies with projects involving packet processing work exclusively in software, predominantly C. They have infrastructures and methodologies … Read More → "Taming Embedded Multi-Core on FPGAs for Packet Processing"

“You don’t understand,” my father patiently explained. “People have enormous collections of vinyl records. They’re never going to switch to a new format like compact disc, even if the sound and convenience are better. There’s just too much already invested.” Generally, Dad was a progressive, technically-savvy, keep-up-with-change kinda’ guy. On some issues, however, he just couldn’t see past the status-quo. His experience had built a level of technology-rooted myopia that his vision couldn’t overcome. When the new thing came along, even though … Read More → "Status Quopia"

Just out of college and needing some extra cash during the holidays, I worked briefly for a high-end haberdashery in Virginia. During orientation, we learned the tricks of the trade, including how to tie the perfect tie (I can still perform this impressive parlor trick…) and how to fold and stack dress shirts. But tucked neatly among all the expensive men’s clothing presentation skills was an actual life lesson. We were coached that we must not judge any customer by his appearance, and that some of the most important clients to visit the store would look … Read More → "This Engineer Walks Into a Bar…"