Politecnico di Milano

FPGA computing systems: Background knowledge and introductory materials

ratings

This course is for anyone passionate in learning how a hardware component can be adapted at runtime to better respond to users/environment needs. This adaptation can be provided by the designers, or it can be an embedded characteristic of the system itself. These runtime adaptable systems will be implemented by using FPGA technologies. Within this course we are going to provide a basic understanding on how the FPGAs are working and of the rationale behind the choice of them to implement a desired system. This course aims to teach everyone the basics of FPGA-based reconfigurable computing systems. We cover the basics of how to decide whether or not to use an FPGA and, if this technology will be proven to be the right choice, how to program it. This is an introductory course meant to guide you through the FPGA world to make you more conscious on the reasons why you may be willing to work with them and in trying to provide you the sense of the work you have to do to be able to gain the advantages you are looking for by using these technologies. The course has no prerequisites and avoids all but the simplest mathematics and it presents technical topics by using analogizes to help also a student without a technical background to get at least a basic understanding on how an FPGA works. One of the main objectives of this course is to try to democratize the understanding and the access to FPGAs technologies. FPGAs are a terrific example of a powerful technologies that can be used in different domains. Being able to bring this technologies to domain experts and showing them how they can improve their research because of FPGAs, can be seen as the ultimate objective of this course. Once a student completes this course, they will be ready to take more advanced FPGA courses.

From the lesson

Closing remarks and future directions

We are working at the edge of the research in the area of reconfigurable computing. FPGA technologies are not used only as standalone solutions/platforms but are now included into cloud infrastructures. They are now used both to accelerate infrastructure/backend computations and exposed as-a-Service that can be used by anyone. Within this context we are facing the definition of new research opportunities and technologies improvements and the time cannot be better under this perspective. What it is needed now is new platform creation tools, monitoring and profiling infrastructure, better runtime management systems, static and dynamic workload partitioning, just to name a few possible areas of research. This module is concluding this course but posing interesting questions towards possible future research directions that may also point the students to other Coursera courses on FPGAs.

Towards distributed FPGA-based systems5:05

Meet the Instructors

Marco Domenico Santambrogio
Associate Professor
DEIB - Dept. of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering

We breathing new air.

We are working at the edge of the research in the area of reconfigurable computing.

What was considered the future is the present.

FPGAs have been included into the cloud infrastructures.

They are now used both to accelerate infrastructure/backend computations

and exposed as-a-Service that can be used by anyone.

There is still room for research and improvements and the time cannot be better under this perspective.

We need new platform creation tools, monitoring & profiling infrastructure,

better runtime management systems, static and dynamic workload partitioning,

just to name a few possible areas of research.

Just to give you an example of the reasons why I’m so excited to be a researcher

in this field nowadays, let’s go back to 2009 and in doing this I’d like to propose

a scenario that we had already encountered.

In this picture we can see a set of six functionalities, A to F, and a FPGA that we are willing of using

to implement our system.

We know that, to be able of using the six functionalities, we have to properly implement them onto the FPGA.

In other words, this means that we have, among the other things, to assign them an area

that will be used at runtime to host them.

This is bringing us to situation where we have a set of implementations that are going

to be used to configure the FPGA.

How, when are we going to do this?

Well, as proposed in this example, we won’t know this at design time,

because this will be decided by the users of our system.

They’ll be in charge of deciding when to “configure” the system by asking

for a specific functionality.

Now, let me play a bit with this “old” scenario...

What if, instead of a generic FPGA device, we are going

to decide the technology we are interested in using?

By doing this, we may say that we are interested in using Xilinx FPGAs.

Now, so far nothing new.

This is not something extraordinary or unusual, but I won’t stop here...

Now, what if, instead of the previous implementations, we are going to add Amazon to the context?

Why Amazon?

Quite simple.

They are integrating Xilinx FPGAs in their cloud infrastructure

and they are providing F1 Instances through their Amazon Web Services.

Do you see where I am getting?

We have been among the first in envisioning a scenario where FPGAs were not only used

for “private”, personal or corporate objectives but to serve the needs of others,

exposing them as a service.

This is super exciting!

This is what science is all about, being able to forge the future,

to see where the tomorrow will bring us.

Well, our scenario is getting definitely more interesting, but it’s not yet done.

I want to add more...

What?

A mirror?

Am I joking?

No, I’m not joking

I’m not joking at all, I’m hundred per cent serious!

Do not take the mirror per se, but take it as a symbol.

I’m not adding a mirror to the context...

I’m adding YOU!

Yes, you got it right!

You are now part of the game!

With the F1 instances, there are no excuses any longer in not using FPGAs.

This is huge!

This is revolutionary!

You are a player in the market!

You can sell you designs to everybody!

You can help other to use FPGA-based solutions because of the designs you are making!

Ok I got you!

You are not ready yet to make your implementations available to others.

You think you want to know more.

You need to lear more.

Well, this is exactly the new piece of the puzzle we are composing.

This is exactly what we are doing now!

This is this class!

A joint effort of several partners like Xilinx, Politecnico di Milano, Metid,

the NECSTLab at PoliMi, Coursera...and you!

This is the future becoming the present!

This is what this class is all about!

Making you more confident in your possibilities, allowing you to explore systems’ opportunities

because of FPGAs integration, learning how to design novel solution

by taking advantages of FPGAs.

Finally, I need to add you once more into the picture.

You are now attending this class.

Right now you are among the people who are asking for functionalities.

But we need to move from this context to the one in which, as I said,

you are going to play a key, active role into this scenario.

So...

at the end...

it is all about you!

Motivated people, trilled about the idea of learning and experiencing.

I can teach you what an FPGA is and how to design your system based on it.

I can show you the path, but you have to make it and I can ensure you...

it’s super exciting and rewarding!

I cannot wait to see what will be the next breakthrough innovation because of you!