CISE Research Instrumentation: Prototyping Equipment for Application Specific Architectures

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96-17308 Irwin, Mary Jane Owens, Robert M. Penn State University CISE Research Instrumentation: Prototyping Equipment for Application Specific Architectures This research instrumentation grant enables two distinct research projects: - Low Power, High Performance Architecture Design - Massively Parallel, Application Specific Hardware System Design The first project focuses on the design of low power, high performance hardware systems for use in mobile applications. This project includes the design of CAD tools which support the design of low power systems and the study of low power module and processor architecture alternatives. A subset of the designs will be selected for fabrication, using the requested chip fabrication expenses, and evaluation, using a subset of the prototyping support equipment, to validate simulated speed and power consumption measurements. The second project focuses on the design, implementation, and use of massively parallel, application specific hardware systems for signal and image processing applications. A specific example is the MGAP-2 which is a single board coprocessor containing 49,152 fine grain processors (on 32 custom VLSI chips). Experience with the MGAP family of architectures has provided insight into derivative architectures which hold a promise of improved performance, flexibility, and/or physical size. A subset of these derivative designs will be implemented using the requested chip fabrication expenses, prototyping support equipment, and hardware prototyping accessories to validate their benefits.