Interoperability is one of the challenges facing systems or consumer electronics. With the introduction of configurable devices, such as the Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), it was expected that the interoperability would be fostered.
While some inputs have been made in that regard, more needs to be done. Today, it is not always easy to find a consumer electronics that combines FPGAs and SoCs in one system. If that were to be the case, it would have been possible to scale the products.
We are pleased to let you know that it may not be possible to make that kind of integration in previous FPGAs, but it is now possible with the Stratix 10. This article explains how the Stratix 10 FPGA fosters the interoperability of FPGAs and SoCs.
What are FPGAs and SoCs?
Let us understand the underlining concepts before proceeding. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) refer to the systems used to reconfigure or modify the previous designs of consumer electronics.
System-on-Chips (SoCs), on the other hand, are “wholesome programmable components” that can be used to build the core parts of consumer electronics.
The function of the Stratix 10 is to bring the FPGAs and the SoCs into the same circuit board footprint. That birthed the Stratix 10 via the combination of different technologies.
The following are the core process technologies or architectures used to make this happen:
- Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology
- The “revolutionary” Intel Hyperflex FPGA Architecture
- A wide range of chiplets
- The Advanced Interface Bus (AIB)
The Core Function – FPGAs & SoCs Integration
Through Stratix 10, we can now enjoy a combined function of FPGAs and SoCs. The manufacturer, Intel, specifically mentioned that Stratix 10 delivers “innovative advantages in performance, power efficiency, density, and system integration.”
Thus, using the Stratix 10 FPGA is a pathway to enjoy excellent power management, multiple circuit board integration options, and improved performance. In the area of performance, the manufacturer noted that “Stratix 10 devices deliver up to 2x performance over previous-generation, high-performance FPGA.”
All-Powered by the Architecture
It is important to note here that the process technologies or major architectures backing Stratix 10 are the primary medium for making the combined functions of integrating an FPGA and a SoC in the same footprint.
Now, the major architecture used for this purpose is the Intel Hyperflex FPGA Architecture. The manufacturer noted it to be the major platform that ensures that the Stratix 10 devices deliver up to 2x increased performance, when compared to the previous FPGA devices.
It is also noteworthy that the Intel Hyperflex FPGA Architecture is “designed for the future,” in the sense that it is also meant to “address the challenges presented by the next-generation systems.”
This is a futuristic attempt by Intel to use the Stratix 10 devices to curtail some of the design challenges noticed in the previous FPGA devices.
Let us now talk about some of the immense benefits that the Intel Hyperflex PGA Architecture has to offer.
1. The Function of the Hyper-Registers
The Intel Hyperflex FPGA Architecture a set of “additional by passable registers” called the Hyper-Registers. They are the additional registers introduced into the Stratix 10 devices as a way of enabling newer FPGA and SoC design iterations, which are geared towards the 2x improved performance of the aforementioned devices.
These Hyper-Registers work with a tri-design model. The components therein are the:
- Hyper-Optimization: this is a flexible register used to achieve the highest levels of performance possible on the Stratix 10 devices.
- Hyper-Retiming: this is a zero-latency register used to eliminate the delays associated with routing the functional blocks.
- Hyper-Pipelining: this is a type of fine-grained register used to eliminate the critical paths in the Stratix 10 devices.
Overall Benefits of the Intel Hyperflex FPGA Architecture
Below are summaries of the different contributions this FPGA and SoC architecture makes to the advancement of the Stratix 10 devices.
2. Excellent Design Functionality
The architecture offers “increased design productivity” via the integration of the Hyper-Aware design tools. These design tools help the digital circuit designers to encounter only a few design iterations, as well as boosting the performance of the Stratix 10 devices via the “less routing congestions.”
On the other hand, it offers a “greater design functionality” via the different provisions it makes. The most outstanding provisions are the freeing up of the additional FPGA resources to “add greater functionality” to the Stratix 10 devices; reducing the Intellectual Property (IP) size and reducing the bus widths. These reductions are made by using “faster clock frequencies.”
The Individual Benefits of the Stratix 10 Devices
The benefits or advantages of the broader Stratix 10 devices are broken down based on the different components. Thus, we are going to talk about the benefits of the Stratix 10 FPGA devices and that of the Stratix 10 SoCs.
The Stratix 10 FPGA Benefits
The wide range of FPGAs manufactured and categorized under the Stratix 10 FPGAs are optimized to solve the challenges in next-generation, high-performance systems. Below is a breakdown of the different advantages:
- Increased Bandwidth: the Stratix 10 FPGAs operate with the Breakthrough Bandwidth Barrier that offers up to 144 transceivers in one device. It also establishes a “direct cache coherence connection to future select Intel Xeon Scalable processors” via the 20 lanes at 11.2 GT/s.
- Broader Market: the Stratix 10 FPGAs are ideal for use in the medical, military, storage, computing, measurement and the wire and wireless communication end markets.
Benefits of Stratix 10 SoCs
The following are some of the advantages of working with the wide range of Stratix 10 SoC FPGAs:
- Increased Designer Productivity: these System-on-Chips (SoCs) are designed to help the circuit designers increase their productivities. The increased design productivity is actualized via the optimization of the SoC FPGA and the FPGA. This is also derived from the use of the “whole chip visualization with Intel SoC FPGA Embedded Development (EDS)” and the Intel FPGA SDK for OpenCL.
- System Integration: adding the Stratix 10 SoCs to the target systems doesn’t take much time, since the manufacturer added the ARM’s “next-generation 64-bit architecture (ARMv8), which enables hardware visualization, system management and monitoring capabilities.”
Final Thoughts on Stratix 10
Stratix 10 is a combined architecture of Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and System-on-Chips (SoCs). This combination is a remarkable improvement, towards the futuristic curtailing of design iterations of the next-generation configurable systems.
