SHF: Large: Rethinking the Architecture of FPGAs as First-Class Computing Devices

CORAM （Connected-RAM）项目致力于从头开始彻底重新思考可重构计算结构，以创建新一代fpga作为一流的计算设备。从计算的角度来看，今天的主要缺陷是什么？fpga的最大缺点是缺乏本机内存架构。CORAM项目的目标是为fpga开发一致且硬件友好的内存体系结构。CORAM项目将开发(1)方便的内存接口抽象，以支持应用程序开发人员访问片内和片外内存；(2)从体系结构级到电路级的相关机制，以有效地支持这些内存抽象。CORAM项目将使用基于fpga的原型和测试芯片原型的组合来研究抽象和机制。CORAM项目的动力来自于对基于fpga的计算的新兴趣，以及对更高计算性能和更高能源效率的需求。可重构计算是当前商用多核处理器技术水平之外，有效扩展指数级性能扩展的关键候选技术之一。CORAM项目是充分探索可重构计算范式潜力的核心。

The CORAM (Connected-RAM) project endeavors to completely rethink the reconfigurable computing fabric from scratch to create a new generation of FPGAs as first-class computing devices. From a computing perspective, a major deficiency in today?s FPGAs is the lack of a native memory architecture. The goal of the CORAM project is to develop a consistent and hardware-friendly memory architecture for FPGAs. The CORAM project will develop (1) convenient memory interface abstractions to support the application developers in accessing on- and off-chip memory and (2) the associated mechanisms, from the architecture-level down to the circuit-level, to efficiently support those memory abstractions. The CORAM project will study the abstractions and mechanisms using a combination of FPGA-based prototypes and a test-chip prototype.The CORAM project is motivated by the renewed interest in FPGA-based computing, driven by the need for greater computing performance and at the same time greater energy efficiency. Reconfigurable computing is one of the key technology candidates to extend the exponential performance scaling efficiently beyond the current commercial multicore processor technology horizon. The CORAM project is central to fully exploring the potential of the reconfigurable computing paradigm.