SAN JOSE, Calif., March 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Xilinx, Inc.
(NASDAQ: XLNX), the leader in adaptive and intelligent computing,
today announced a new breakthrough product category called adaptive
compute acceleration platform (ACAP) that goes far beyond the
capabilities of an FPGA. An ACAP is a highly integrated multi-core
heterogeneous compute platform that can be changed at the hardware
level to adapt to the needs of a wide range of applications and
workloads. An ACAP's adaptability, which can be done dynamically
during operation, delivers levels of performance and performance
per-watt that is unmatched by CPUs or GPUs.
An ACAP is ideally suited to accelerate a broad set of
applications in the emerging era of big data and artificial
intelligence. These include: video transcoding, database, data
compression, search, AI inference, genomics, machine vision,
computational storage and network acceleration. Software and
hardware developers will be able to design ACAP-based products for
end point, edge and cloud applications. The first ACAP product
family, codenamed "Everest," will be developed in TSMC 7nm process
technology and will tape out later this year.
"This is a major technology disruption for the industry and our
most significant engineering accomplishment since the invention of
the FPGA," says Victor Peng,
president and CEO of Xilinx. "This revolutionary new architecture
is part of a broader strategy that moves the company beyond FPGAs
and supporting only hardware developers. The adoption of ACAP
products in the data center, as well as in our broad markets, will
accelerate the pervasive use of adaptive computing, making the
intelligent, connected, and adaptable world a reality sooner."
ACAP TECHNICAL DETAILS
An ACAP has – at its core – a new generation of FPGA fabric with
distributed memory and hardware-programmable DSP blocks, a
multicore SoC, and one or more software programmable, yet hardware
adaptable, compute engines, all connected through a network on chip
(NoC). An ACAP also has highly integrated programmable I/O
functionality, ranging from integrated hardware programmable memory
controllers, advanced SerDes technology and leading edge
RF-ADC/DACs, to integrated High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) depending on
the device variant.
Software developers will be able to target ACAP-based systems
using tools like C/C++, OpenCL and Python. An ACAP can also be
programmable at the RTL level using FPGA tools.
"This is what the future of computing looks like," says
Patrick Moorhead, founder, Moor
Insights & Strategy. "We are talking about the ability to do
genomic sequencing in a matter of a couple of minutes, versus a
couple of days. We are talking about data centers being able to
program their servers to change workloads depending upon compute
demands, like video transcoding during the day and then image
recognition at night. This is significant."
ACAP has been under development for four years at an accumulated
R&D investment of over one billion
dollars (USD). There are currently more than 1,500 hardware
and software engineers at Xilinx designing "ACAP and
Everest." Software tools have been delivered to key
customers. "Everest" will tape out in 2018 with customer shipments
in 2019.
"EVEREST" PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
"Everest" is expected to achieve 20x performance improvement on
deep neural networks compared to today's latest 16nm Virtex® VU9P
FPGA. "Everest"-based 5G remote radio heads will have 4x the
bandwidth versus the latest 16nm-based radios. A wide variety of
applications across multiple markets like automotive; industrial,
scientific and medical; aerospace and defense; test, measurement
and emulation; audio/video and broadcast; and the consumer markets
will see a significant performance increase and greater power
efficiency.
ACAP and the "Everest" project were announced today as part of
Peng's vision for the future of Xilinx. (see release). More
information is available at www.xilinx.com. Follow us on
Twitter: @XilinxInc, Facebook: facebook.com/XilinxInc,
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/Xilinx.
About Xilinx
Xilinx develops highly flexible and adaptive processing
platforms that enable rapid innovation across a variety of
technologies – from the endpoint to the edge to the cloud. Xilinx
is the inventor of the FPGA, hardware programmable SoCs and the
ACAP, designed to deliver the most dynamic processor technology in
the industry and enable the adaptable, intelligent and connected
world of the future. For more information, visit
www.xilinx.com.
© Copyright 2018 Xilinx, Inc. Xilinx, the Xilinx logo, Artix,
ISE, Kintex, Spartan, Virtex, Vivado, Zynq, and other designated
brands included herein are trademarks of Xilinx in the United
States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property
of their respective owners.
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Tara Sims
415-713-5986
media@xilinx.com
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SOURCE Xilinx, Inc.