RARE: Reconfigurable Computing via the Internet

通常，在典型的桌面计算机上需要几个小时到几个星期才能执行的应用程序被移植到超级计算机或大型计算服务器上。这种选择不仅代价高昂，而且通常必须重写整个程序以有效地利用这些系统上的多个处理器和其他可用资源。可重构计算（Reconfigurable computing， RC）系统可以提供优于此选项的优势，因为RC系统已被证明能够以极低的成本提供接近超级计算机的性能。然而，完成RC系统设计不仅需要几个月的时间，而且RC系统开发人员必须接受硬件设计和软件开发方面的培训。该研究项目将开发一种互联网上的远程自适应计算资源（RARE），它将帮助科学家和工程师解决在典型台式计算机上需要过多执行时间的问题。RARE包含一套全面的例程，这些例程经过优化，可在可重构计算机上实现高性能。作为这项研究工作的一部分，开发了一个新的客户机/服务器程序接口，它将管理用户进程请求的加载和执行。资源的用户界面由执行典型科学/工程计算的函数和过程库组成。该项目的目标是以更低的成本将本地和远程版本的科学数据处理应用程序的速度提高几个数量级。系统的用户只需要调用在可重构计算资源上执行应用程序的本地或远程过程。一个新颖的特性是数据从远程站点发送到RARE，在经过优化的硬件上进行处理，使其执行特定任务的速度比典型的台式计算机快得多，然后通过Internet传输回用户。最近的实验证实，几种算法的远程硬件版本（在可重构计算机上实现）比相同算法的逻辑软件版本（在典型的台式计算机上实现）完成执行的速度要快得多。这种说法是正确的，尽管由于通过Internet传输数据而存在通信开销。计算流体动力学（CFD）领域的应用程序是该资源的主要候选对象，因为许多这些计算机模拟模型需要大量的执行时间。通常，CFD模拟需要求解大量的联立方程或大量的导数和/或积分计算。北卡罗来纳州立大学开发的一个这样的CFD模型需要在台式计算机上运行两周，而且这个模型只是完整系统仿真的一个子集。在执行这些模型期间获得的软件分析报告表明，总执行时间的70%以上花在了少量原子过程上。因此，这些应用是本研究项目的主要重点。

Frequently, applications that require several hours to a few weeks to execute on typical desktop computers are ported to supercomputers or large compute servers. Not only is this option costly, but often the entire program must be rewritten to effectively utilize multiple processors and other resources available on these systems. Reconfigurable computing (RC) systems can offer an advantage over this option since RC systems have been demonstrated that deliver performance approaching that of a supercomputer at a fraction of the cost. However, not only could it take several months to complete an RC system design, but RC system developers must be trained in both hardware design and software development.The research project will develop a Remote Adaptive-Computing REsource on the Internet (RARE) that will assist scientists and engineers in solving problems that require excessive execution time when solved on a typical desktop computer. RARE comprises a comprehensive set of routines that have been optimized for high performance on a reconfigurable computer. A novel client/server program interface, developed as a part of this research effort, will manage the loading and execution of user process requests. The user interface to the resource consists of a library of functions and procedures that perform typical scientific/engineering computations. The goal of the project is to speedup local and remote versions of scientific data processing applications by orders of magnitude at reduced costs. Users of the system need only call a local or remote procedure that executes the application on the reconfigurable computing resource. A novel feature is that data is sent to RARE from a remote site, processed on hardware that has been optimized to perform a particular task significantly faster than a typical desktop computer, and transmitted back to the user via the Internet.Recent experiments verify that remote hardware versions of several algorithms (implemented on a reconfigurable computer) can complete execution significantly faster than logical software versions of the same algorithm (implemented on a typical desktop computer). This statement is true in spite of the communication overhead that is present due to data transmission via the Internet. Applications in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are prime candidates for this resource since many of these computer simulation models require enormous execution times. Typically, CFD simulations require the solution of a large number of simultaneous equations or extensive computation of derivatives and/or integrals. One such CFD model, developed at NC State, requires two weeks to run on a desktop computer and this model is only a subset of the complete system simulation. Software profiling reports obtained during execution of these models demonstrate that more than 70% of the total execution time is spent in a small number of atomic procedures. Hence, these applications are the primary focus of this research project.