A: DRC offers the industry’s first Reconfigurable Processor Unit (RPU) that delivers the optimal way to directly connect a programmable processor unit to a processor bus and system memory to solve compute-intensive problems and accelerate high-performance applications.

A: No, DRC does not manufacture its own chip. DRC buys FPGAs from Xilinx

A: RPU stands for Reconfigurable Processor Unit. DRC’s RPU system plugs directly into an open processor socket in a multi-way AMD Opteron™ system to provide direct access to DDR (double data rate) memory and any adjacent Opteron processor at HyperTransport speeds and latencies. The RPU then becomes a resource for the remaining Opteron processor for implementing application subroutines in hardware. The resulting speeds are typically 10x to 20x and, in some cases, 100x to 1000x faster than if the subroutines were run in software.

A: Dynamic reconfiguration means that you can program a device one way and then reprogram it on the fly without having to power down the system. Our latest technology advances put us on the path towards real-time reconfiguration without having to reboot the entire system.

A: By inserting the RPU directly into a microprocessor socket, the coprocessor gets equivalent access to all the motherboard resources a CPU gets, such as direct HyperTransport (HT) access for CPU to CPU communication, local memory bandwidth, etc. It is DRC's fundamental understanding of system level issues affecting performance that has led to RPU designs with additional simultaneously accessible memories. Since many applications are starved for data, especially once the logic is accelerated, the RPU can provide true application acceleration.

A: DRC has simplified the most difficult part of moving software to FPGA hardware by providing the RPU Hardware OS. The simple API for this OS provides the programmer with access to 80 percent of the FPGA logic for his own code but provides a pre-configured and locked design for all physical pins and design issues.
The application programmer no longer has to worry about timing for the bus and memory interfaces. Controllers, DMA (direct memory access), backpressure and flow control allow the application to have an independent clock, assuring that data can never overrun the logic or system resources. Remaining programming issues are much more familiar to the application programmer and more easily handled in the C-to-RTL tools provided by our many partners. Celoxica, Impulse Accelerated Technologies, and Mitrionics have all developed support packages for the DRC RPU.

A: DRC's total solution increases processor performance and efficiency to help solve compute-intensive problems not previously possible. At the same time, DRC’s solution reduces costs by reducing power, cooling, and space requirements.

A: Continued improvements in DRC’s RPU Hardware OS will give future RPUs more intelligence and system capability. Likewise, new RPUs will be offered in configurations that support newer motherboards with different sockets, and that support a greater variety of workstations, servers, and blade systems. From an application perspective, increasing development of libraries and pre-programmed applications will provide more solutions, and more solutions that are faster and easier to implement.