RARE: Reconfigurable Computing via the Internet

通常，需要几个小时到几周才能在典型台式计算机上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，而且经常必须重写整个程序，以有效地利用这些系统上可用的多个处理器和其他资源。可重构计算(RC)系统可以提供超过这种选择的优势，因为RC系统已经被证明以几分之一的成本提供了接近超级计算机的性能。然而，不仅需要几个月的时间来完成RC系统设计，而且RC系统开发人员还必须接受硬件设计和软件开发方面的培训。研究项目将开发互联网上的远程自适应计算资源(REARE)，该资源将帮助科学家和工程师解决在典型台式计算机上解决需要过长执行时间的问题。REARE包含一套全面的例程，这些例程已针对可重新配置的计算机上的高性能进行了优化。作为这项研究工作的一部分，开发了一个新的客户端/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/工程计算的函数库和程序库组成。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加速数量级。系统的用户只需要调用在可重构计算资源上执行应用的本地或远程过程。一个新颖的特征是，数据从远程站点发送到Rare，在硬件上处理，该硬件被优化为执行特定任务的速度比典型台式计算机快得多，并通过互联网传输回用户。最近的实验验证，几种算法的远程硬件版本(在可重构计算机上实现)完成执行的速度比相同算法的逻辑软件版本(在典型台式计算机上实现)快得多。尽管由于通过互联网传输数据而存在通信开销，但这一说法是正确的。计算流体动力学(CFD)领域的应用程序是这种资源的主要候选者，因为这些计算机模拟模型中的许多需要巨大的执行时间。通常，CFD模拟需要解大量的联立方程或大量的导数和/或积分的计算。在NC State开发的一个这样的CFD模型需要在台式计算机上运行两周，而这个模型只是整个系统模拟的一个子集。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%以上花在少量的原子过程中。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.