Reconfigurable Supercomputing
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Reconfigurable Supercomputing stands for a new direction in Supercomputing, where Reconfigurable Computing methods are adopted by supercomputer architectures, like including FPGAs. From FPGA usage as accelerators, speed-up factors by up to two orders of magnitude are reported, as well as floor space requirements and electricity invoice amounts reduced by one order of magnitude. Algorithmic cleverness is the secret of success, based on software to configware migration mechanisms, striving away from memory-cycle-hungry instruction-stream-based computing paradigms also using memory-cycle-hungry data movement methods. A new kind operating system modules as well as new compilation techniques are needed to ease usage. A main hurdle on the way to heart-stopping new horizons of cheap highest performance are CS-related educational deficits causing the configware / software chasm and a methodology fragmentation between the different cultures of application domains. New directions in CS-related curricula are needed which are focused on a dual paradigm approach (instruction-stream-based and data-stream-based).
