Developments in FPGA Technology

Event: Computer Architecture Seminar Series
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/cart/arch

Speaker: Zvonko Vranesic
University of Toronto

Title: "Developments in FPGA Technology"

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Time: 10:30 am
Place: ACES 2.402
Coffee: 10:15 am
Host: Derek Chiou

ABSTRACT:

The talk will address the present state of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology. This technology has advanced to the point where FPGA chips are now used to implement entire high-performance digital systems. Most advanced FPGA devices can implement millions of equivalent logic gates and may contain megabytes of memory cells. FPGAs are widely used in applications such as automotive, video processing, communications, computers, medical and industrial test equipment.

Huge advances have been made during the past few years in both the implementation of FPGA devices and the CAD tools needed to use these devices in practical applications. Continuing quest for increased performance is now accompanied by efforts to reduce the power consumption of FPGAs. The most important factors are the reduction in feature size, the architecture of the FPGA devices and the ability of CAD tools to realize efficient designs. These issues will be discussed, as seen by an academic who is now working in FPGA industry.

BIOGRAPHY:

Zvonko Vranesic received his B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees, all in Electrical Engineering, from the University of Toronto. From 1963 to 1965 he worked as a design engineer with the Northern Electric Co. Ltd. in Bramalea, Ontario. In 1968 he joined the University of Toronto, where he is now a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. During the 1978-79 academic year, he was a Senior Visitor at the University of Cambridge, England, and during 1984-85 he was at the University of Paris, 6. From 1995 to 2000 he served as Chair of the Division of Engineering Science at the University of Toronto. Presently, he is working at the Altera Toronto Technology Center, as a member of Altera's University Program group. His research interests have included computer architecture and field-programmable VLSI technology.

He is a coauthor of five books: Fundamentals of Digital Logic with VHDL Design, 3rd ed.; Fundamentals of Digital Logic with Verilog Design, 2nd ed.; Computer Organization, 5th ed.; Microcomputer Structures; and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays. He has represented Canada in numerous chess competitions. He holds the title of International Master.