Break the Cold Barrier: An In-Depth Study on FPGA Performance and Design Optimization at Cryogenic Temperature
Zesong Jiang, Muhan Zhang, Qingyun Liu, Runze Liu · Integrated Circuits and Systems · 2024
This study explores the potential of Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) within the realm of cryogenic computing, which promises enhanced performance and power efficiency by reducing leakage power and wire resistance at low temperatures. Prior research has mainly adapted commercial FPGAs for cryogenic temperatures without fully exploiting the technology's benefits, necessitating significant design efforts for each application scenario. By characterizing FPGA performance in cryogenic conditions and examining the influence of architectural parameters, we propose a Bayesian optimization-based framework for systematic FPGA architecture exploration to identify FPGA architectures that are optimally suited for cryogenic applications. The architectures we developed, aimed at operating efficiently at 77K, significantly outperform conventional FPGAs designed for room-temperature conditions in performance and power consumption.