---
_id: '296'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: FPGAs are known to permit huge gains in performance and efficiency for suitable
    applications but still require reduced design efforts and shorter development
    cycles for wider adoption. In this work, we compare the resulting performance
    of two design concepts that in different ways promise such increased productivity.
    As common starting point, we employ a kernel-centric design approach, where computational
    hotspots in an application are identified and individually accelerated on FPGA.
    By means of a complex stereo matching application, we evaluate two fundamentally
    different design philosophies and approaches for implementing the required kernels
    on FPGAs. In the first implementation approach, we designed individually specialized
    data flow kernels in a spatial programming language for a Maxeler FPGA platform;
    in the alternative design approach, we target a vector coprocessor with large
    vector lengths, which is implemented as a form of programmable overlay on the
    application FPGAs of a Convey HC-1. We assess both approaches in terms of overall
    system performance, raw kernel performance, and performance relative to invested
    resources. After compensating for the effects of the underlying hardware platforms,
    the specialized dataflow kernels on the Maxeler platform are around 3x faster
    than kernels executing on the Convey vector coprocessor. In our concrete scenario,
    due to trade-offs between reconfiguration overheads and exposed parallelism, the
    advantage of specialized dataflow kernels is reduced to around 2.5x.
article_number: '859425'
author:
- first_name: Tobias
  full_name: Kenter, Tobias
  id: '3145'
  last_name: Kenter
- first_name: Henning
  full_name: Schmitz, Henning
  last_name: Schmitz
- first_name: Christian
  full_name: Plessl, Christian
  id: '16153'
  last_name: Plessl
  orcid: 0000-0001-5728-9982
citation:
  ama: Kenter T, Schmitz H, Plessl C. Exploring Tradeoffs between Specialized Kernels
    and a Reusable Overlay in a Stereo-Matching Case Study. <i>International Journal
    of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)</i>. 2015;2015. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425">10.1155/2015/859425</a>
  apa: Kenter, T., Schmitz, H., &#38; Plessl, C. (2015). Exploring Tradeoffs between
    Specialized Kernels and a Reusable Overlay in a Stereo-Matching Case Study. <i>International
    Journal of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)</i>, <i>2015</i>, Article 859425. <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425">https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425</a>
  bibtex: '@article{Kenter_Schmitz_Plessl_2015, title={Exploring Tradeoffs between
    Specialized Kernels and a Reusable Overlay in a Stereo-Matching Case Study}, volume={2015},
    DOI={<a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425">10.1155/2015/859425</a>}, number={859425},
    journal={International Journal of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)}, publisher={Hindawi},
    author={Kenter, Tobias and Schmitz, Henning and Plessl, Christian}, year={2015}
    }'
  chicago: Kenter, Tobias, Henning Schmitz, and Christian Plessl. “Exploring Tradeoffs
    between Specialized Kernels and a Reusable Overlay in a Stereo-Matching Case Study.”
    <i>International Journal of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)</i> 2015 (2015). <a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425">https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425</a>.
  ieee: 'T. Kenter, H. Schmitz, and C. Plessl, “Exploring Tradeoffs between Specialized
    Kernels and a Reusable Overlay in a Stereo-Matching Case Study,” <i>International
    Journal of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)</i>, vol. 2015, Art. no. 859425, 2015,
    doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425">10.1155/2015/859425</a>.'
  mla: Kenter, Tobias, et al. “Exploring Tradeoffs between Specialized Kernels and
    a Reusable Overlay in a Stereo-Matching Case Study.” <i>International Journal
    of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)</i>, vol. 2015, 859425, Hindawi, 2015, doi:<a
    href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/859425">10.1155/2015/859425</a>.
  short: T. Kenter, H. Schmitz, C. Plessl, International Journal of Reconfigurable
    Computing (IJRC) 2015 (2015).
date_created: 2017-10-17T12:41:49Z
date_updated: 2023-09-26T13:29:08Z
ddc:
- '040'
department:
- _id: '27'
- _id: '518'
- _id: '78'
doi: 10.1155/2015/859425
file:
- access_level: closed
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: florida
  date_created: 2018-03-20T07:47:56Z
  date_updated: 2018-03-20T07:47:56Z
  file_id: '1444'
  file_name: 296-859425.pdf
  file_size: 2993898
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2018-03-20T07:47:56Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '      2015'
language:
- iso: eng
project:
- _id: '1'
  grant_number: '160364472'
  name: SFB 901
- _id: '14'
  grant_number: '160364472'
  name: SFB 901 - Subprojekt C2
- _id: '4'
  name: SFB 901 - Project Area C
- _id: '34'
  grant_number: '610996'
  name: Self-Adaptive Virtualisation-Aware High-Performance/Low-Energy Heterogeneous
    System Architectures
publication: International Journal of Reconfigurable Computing (IJRC)
publisher: Hindawi
quality_controlled: '1'
status: public
title: Exploring Tradeoffs between Specialized Kernels and a Reusable Overlay in a
  Stereo-Matching Case Study
type: journal_article
user_id: '15278'
volume: 2015
year: '2015'
...