Achronix Semiconductor Corporation

Altera Corporation

Michael Philip Fitton

Daniel J Pugh

Raymond Nijssen

Marcel Van Der Goot

Kulwinder Singh Dhanoa

Lei Xu

Benjamin Thomas Cope

Kellie Marks

Kulwinder Dhanoa

A tile of an FPGA includes a multiple mode arithmetic circuit. The multiple mode arithmetic circuit is configured by control signals to operate in an integer mode, a floating-point mode, or both. In some example embodiments, multiple integer modes (e.g., unsigned, two's complement, and sign-magnitude) are selectable, multiple floating-point modes (e.g., 16-bit mantissa and 8-bit sign, 8-bit mantissa and 6-bit sign, and 6-bit mantissa and 6-bit sign) are supported, or any suitable combination thereof. The tile may also fuse a memory circuit with the arithmetic circuits. Connections directly between multiple instances of the tile are also available, allowing multiple tiles to be treated as larger memories or arithmetic circuits. By using these connections, referred to as cascade inputs and outputs, the input and output bandwidth of the arithmetic circuit is further increased.

Multiple mode arithmetic circuit

A tile of an FPGA provides memory, arithmetic functions, or both. Connections directly between multiple instances of the tile are available, allowing multiple tiles to be treated as larger memories or arithmetic circuits. By using these connections, referred to as cascade inputs and outputs, the input and output bandwidth of the arithmetic and memory circuits are increased, operand sizes are increased, or both. By using the cascade connections, multiple tiles can be used together as a single, larger tile. Thus, implementations that need memories of different sizes, arithmetic functions operating on different sized operands, or both, can use the same FPGA without additional programming or waste. Using cascade communications, more tiles are used when a large memory is needed and fewer tiles are used when a small memory is needed and the waste is avoided.

Cascade communications between FPGA tiles

A tile of an FPGA fuses memory and arithmetic circuits. Connections directly between multiple instances of the tile are also available, allowing multiple tiles to be treated as larger memories or arithmetic circuits. By using these connections, referred to as cascade inputs and outputs, the input and output bandwidth of the arithmetic circuit is further increased. The arithmetic unit accesses inputs from a combination of: the switch fabric, the memory circuit, a second memory circuit of the tile, and a cascade input. In some example embodiments, the routing of the connections on the tile is based on post-fabrication configuration. In one configuration, all connections are used by the memory circuit, allowing for higher bandwidth in writing or reading the memory. In another configuration, all connections are used by the arithmetic circuit.

Fused memory and arithmetic circuit

A processor is adapted for performing a QR-decomposition. The processor has a program memory, a program controller, connected to the program memory to receive program instructions, and at least one processing unit. The processing unit includes a CORDIC calculation block, and has a distributed memory structure, with separate memory blocks for storing respective parameter values.

Methods and apparatus for matrix decompositions in programmable logic devices

Systems and methods are disclosed for interfacing between hard logic elements and soft logic elements implemented on an integrated device. In particular, a configurable interface is provided that includes interconnects between hard logic and soft logic, which enable signals to be selectively routed between the inputs and outputs of hard logic blocks and soft logic modules. The interconnects allow for certain hard logic blocks to be bypassed in favor of soft logic functionality. Moreover, the interconnects allow soft logic to augment the processing of hard logic blocks, e.g., by providing additional signals to the hard logic block.

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Menlo Park, CA, United States of America

Michael Philip Fitton