Bridging the Gap between Advanced Memory and Heterogeneous Architectures

Abstract

Conventional computing has been dominated by one or more uniform processor cores coupled with Dynamic RAM. However, heterogeneous computing (processor cores coupled with accelerators such as FPGAs) are becoming readily available to a broad market. Also, with the introduction of novel technologies (Hybrid Memory Cube, High Bandwidth Memory, etc.), memory performance characteristics are changing abruptly. This paper proposes Volcan, a framework that abstracts the different memory technologies, leverages high-level synthesis, and partial reconfiguration to increase the portability and productivity of application developers interested in heterogeneous computing. Three platforms were tested with three sample applications. The results indicate that the framework introduces little overhead while exposing the bandwidth advantages of these new memory technologies.