The ever-increasing computational and sustainability demands in high-performance computing (HPC) and data analytics have primarily favored hardened GPUs over the more flexible and potentially more energy-efficient FPGA technology. The widespread use of FPGAs is hindered by limited understanding of the technology and its capabilities, combined with complex and cumbersome programming and deployment, and the (perceived) need for digital hardware knowledge. In 2023, 4TU.NIRICT funded “The FIRE Symposia Series: FPGA Innovation Research Exchange”, our community-building project, which organized a series of symposia and related activities to boost the research and use of FPGA technology in the Netherlands. The FIRE consortium has successfully organized five events; the 6th and final event is scheduled for June 27 in Utrecht. Each event received over 65 attendees, balanced between academia and industry, primarily from the Netherlands, but also from Belgium and Germany. The FIRE initiative, in collaboration with the HW Acceleration Network NL, has been very successful in building and expanding the community in the Netherlands, as well as firmly marking this community on the maps of international research.
Engaging this newly formed community, we conducted a comprehensive survey to explore the current use and future potential of FPGA technology in the Netherlands. Our survey provided valuable insights into the existing landscape and highlighted emerging trends, revealing that advancements in FPGA architecture and FPGA-accelerated HPC infrastructure are increasingly driven by and adapted to the ever-growing demands of AI applications. Thus, modern FPGA technology is increasingly employed as a core component in heterogeneous computing platforms (e.g., the AMD Versal System on Chip), that integrate general purpose processing, reconfigurable hardware (FPGA), and domain-specific (AI) accelerators. The heterogeneity of such architectures raises new challenges in programmability, deployment, and optimization, which require further strengthening and promoting of FPGA research. Therefore, we would like to extend the series of already successful FIRE events with three more workshops (two national and one in conjunction with an international conference), with the goal to allow the community to embrace the technology push from AI by boosting research and use of heterogeneous FPGA-based technology.
- dr. ir. Nikolaos Alachiotis (Asst. Prof., Computer Science, U. Twente + HW Accel. Network)
- prof. dr. ir. Ana-Lucia Varbanescu (Chair of CAES group, U. Twente + IPN FCSN + IPN EDI)
- dr. ir. Zaid Al-Ars (Assoc. Prof., Electrical Engineering, TU Delft + HW Accel. Network)
- dr. ir. Roel Jordans (Asst. Prof., Electrical Engineering, TU/e + HW Accel. Network)
- dr. ir. Mohsen Safari (HPC Advisor, Computer Science, SURF)
- dr. Jeremie Vandenplas (Researcher, WUR)
- dr. ir. Anton Wijs (Asst. Prof., Computer Science, TU/e)
- dr. ir. Christiaan Baaij (QBayLogic, Co-Founder)