Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) provide a promising technology that can improve performance of many high-performance computing and embedded applications. However, unlike software design tools, the relatively immature state of FPGA tools significantly limits productivity and consequently preve...

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Main Authors: Gongyu Wang, Greg Stitt, Herman Lam, Alan George
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:International Journal of Reconfigurable Computing
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/784672
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author Gongyu Wang
Greg Stitt
Herman Lam
Alan George
author_facet Gongyu Wang
Greg Stitt
Herman Lam
Alan George
author_sort Gongyu Wang
collection DOAJ
description Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) provide a promising technology that can improve performance of many high-performance computing and embedded applications. However, unlike software design tools, the relatively immature state of FPGA tools significantly limits productivity and consequently prevents widespread adoption of the technology. For example, the lengthy design-translate-execute (DTE) process often must be iterated to meet the application requirements. Previous works have enabled model-based, design-space exploration to reduce DTE iterations but are limited by a lack of accurate model-based prediction of key design parameters, the most important of which is clock frequency. In this paper, we present a core-level modeling and design (CMD) methodology that enables modeling of FPGA applications at an abstract level and yet produces accurate predictions of parameters such as clock frequency, resource utilization (i.e., area), and latency. We evaluate CMD’s prediction methods using several high-performance DSP applications on various families of FPGAs and show an average clock-frequency prediction error of 3.6%, with a worst-case error of 20.4%, compared to the best of existing high-level prediction methods, 13.9% average error with 48.2% worst-case error. We also demonstrate how such prediction enables accurate design-space exploration without coding in a hardware-description language (HDL), significantly reducing the total design time.
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spelling doaj-art-28457111bc374b478ca4c4446ba7a46d2025-08-20T03:54:42ZengWileyInternational Journal of Reconfigurable Computing1687-71951687-72092015-01-01201510.1155/2015/784672784672Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAsGongyu Wang0Greg Stitt1Herman Lam2Alan George3NSF Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-6200, USANSF Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-6200, USANSF Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-6200, USANSF Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-6200, USAField-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) provide a promising technology that can improve performance of many high-performance computing and embedded applications. However, unlike software design tools, the relatively immature state of FPGA tools significantly limits productivity and consequently prevents widespread adoption of the technology. For example, the lengthy design-translate-execute (DTE) process often must be iterated to meet the application requirements. Previous works have enabled model-based, design-space exploration to reduce DTE iterations but are limited by a lack of accurate model-based prediction of key design parameters, the most important of which is clock frequency. In this paper, we present a core-level modeling and design (CMD) methodology that enables modeling of FPGA applications at an abstract level and yet produces accurate predictions of parameters such as clock frequency, resource utilization (i.e., area), and latency. We evaluate CMD’s prediction methods using several high-performance DSP applications on various families of FPGAs and show an average clock-frequency prediction error of 3.6%, with a worst-case error of 20.4%, compared to the best of existing high-level prediction methods, 13.9% average error with 48.2% worst-case error. We also demonstrate how such prediction enables accurate design-space exploration without coding in a hardware-description language (HDL), significantly reducing the total design time.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/784672
spellingShingle Gongyu Wang
Greg Stitt
Herman Lam
Alan George
Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs
International Journal of Reconfigurable Computing
title Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs
title_full Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs
title_fullStr Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs
title_full_unstemmed Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs
title_short Core-Level Modeling and Frequency Prediction for DSP Applications on FPGAs
title_sort core level modeling and frequency prediction for dsp applications on fpgas
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/784672
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AT gregstitt corelevelmodelingandfrequencypredictionfordspapplicationsonfpgas
AT hermanlam corelevelmodelingandfrequencypredictionfordspapplicationsonfpgas
AT alangeorge corelevelmodelingandfrequencypredictionfordspapplicationsonfpgas