Embedded Systems Design Europe - November 2007 - (Page 30) multiprocessing Multiprocessing is becoming a key differentiator for FPGA-based processor architectures. Accelerate system performance with multiprocessing & hybrid FPGAs BY DAN ISAACS, ED TREXEL, AND BRUCE KARSTEN O f the design benefits that FPGAs provide embedded systems designers, one key advantage is the ability to adapt and quickly respond to changing system requirements. FPGAs have evolved from the simple interface logic devices of yesterday into highly sophisticated processing devices that are capable of integrating and accelerating entire embedded systems. Modern FPGA-based systems often include multiple soft and hard processors running industry-standard real-time operating systems (RTOSs), along with processor peripherals and custom hardware accelerators for performance-critical algorithms. As a direct result of these capabilities, FPGAs are now being used to develop highly flexible, hybrid multiprocessing applications and systems. Embedded systems designers face a wide range of processing-related design challenges. Real-time and performance-critical systems demand increased performance, but also require lowered power consumption. Critical embedded applications may require dedicated computing hardware or the use of additional processors to meet performance and power constraints. To address the performance barrier, a standard approach in the past has been to raise the operating frequency of the processor. Increasing clock speeds increases power consumption, however, so embedded systems designers have turned to other approaches to improve the performance/power ratio. These approaches include the use of additional processors or through the use of specialized coprocessors including FPGAs. Adding additional devices to a system can be costly, especially when considering the requirements for increased system reliability and 30 NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2007 | embedded systems design europe | www.embedded.com/europe 030-031-032-033-034-035_ESDE.ind30 30 9/11/07 11:26:39 http://www.embedded.com/europe
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