Toward More Energy-Efficient Datacenters with Enhanced Programmable Silicon

在半导体芯片上制造越来越多晶体管的能力使得计算能力越来越强，无处不在的通信、先进的医疗成像、按需娱乐交付等改变了社会。随着时间的推移，我们已经习惯了计算的成本和能量呈指数级下降，从而产生了新的应用程序和社会效益，从而激发了进一步提高计算能力的投资。这种良性循环现在受到威胁，因为计算所需的能量不再随着传统处理器（cpu）制造的改进而充分下降。还有一种替代方法：将专用硬件配置到现场可编程门阵列（FPGA）芯片中，而不是用软件指令控制一般的CPU硬件。这使得fpga在许多计算中使用CPU所需能量的10%或更少。

The ability to fabricate ever more transistors on a semiconductor chip has enabled ever more computation, transforming society with ubiquitous communications, advanced medical imaging, on-demand entertainment delivery and more. We have become accustomed to the cost and energy of computation dropping exponentially over time, enabling new applications and societal benefits that motivate investment in raising computational capabilities further. This virtuous cycle is now under threat as the energy required for a computation no longer drops sufficiently with improved manufacturing of conventional processors (CPUs). There is an alternative: configure specialized hardware into Field Programamble Gate Array (FPGA) chips instead of controlling general CPU hardware with software instructions. This allows FPGAs to use 10% or less of the energy required by a CPU for many computations.