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Software-Defined Hardware Gains Ground — Again

By Ann Steffora-Mutschler, Semiconductor Engineering

AI applications are prompting chipmakers to take another look at different options for reconfigurable hardware.

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Many others agree. Sergio Marchese, member of the technical marketing team at OneSpin Solutions, said that is the point of complex FPGAs such as Xilinx Versal, a device with programmable logic and lots of resources (AI engines, CPUs, DSPs, etc). “Engineers write AI software (framework level), and there is a tool chain to automatically configure the hardware, optimizing it for that specific software,” he said. “This is great in principle, particularly when algorithms can change quickly as is the case for AI and other cutting edge-applications. However, squeezing the last cycle out of the hardware to gain performance requires changes at the RTL level and engineers with that expertise. Further, any changes to the RTL require thorough re-verification, using the certainty of formal methods whenever possible. This includes formal equivalence checking to ensure that the FPGA implements intended functionality.”

If reconfiguration is fast enough, in theory it could even be done at runtime in the field, but this flow is not reality yet, Marchese said.

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