The subject of study in this article is the evaluation of the performance issues of cloud services implemented using FPGA technology. The goal is to improve the performance of cloud services built on top of multiple FPGA platforms known as FPGA-as-a-Service (FaaS). Task: to analyze the delays in communications between host computer and FPGA; propose the steps of development to reduce the delay and perform the evaluation of the response time for the FPGA-based accelerator depending on number of involved cards; consider the reliability aspect of such systems implemented using programmable logic. According to the tasks, the following results were obtained. The FPGA-as-a-Service where FPGA resources are provided through a set of hardware/software toolset is considered. The usage of queueing theory for cloud-based services is analyzed. The contribution of the parts of FPGA-as-a-Service to the final delay of the service is discussed. The process of modeling of work the services based on FPGA accelerator cards with use of Jackson's network is analyzed in detail. The model of the delays of FaaS that considers the parameters of accelerator FPGA cards is offered. The formula of the total response time of the service combined based on the response of the components of is obtained. The proposed steps of reduce data processing delays include increase the size of data blocks for processing in FPGA by each kernel, change the communication model with kernel from sequential to pipelined, following timing closure technique and use more FPGA accelerator cards in parallel to divide the enquiring delay. Based on the proposed model the evaluation of response time of FaaS was done. The advantage of the use of many FPGAs in parallel for same data processing task instead of implementation of requests thread for each accelerator card is shown. Conclusions. The main contribution of this study is a step forward to the modeling of FPGA-based services that can be used for FPGA-based artificial intelligence (AI) applications. It helps to improve the performance of the system by means of reducing the delays at different stages of requests processing. Another side of this result is the reliability aspect that is based on modified manner of service operation in case of use the proposed steps of system optimization. It helps to improve the processing of requests to FaaS. The proposed method is the next step after prototyping of such systems because it helps to turn the FaaS from the object for development to the tool for deployment of new technologies like AI applications.

The objective of this article is to present technique elements of Intellectual Properties Cores (IP) and Infrastructure IP (IIP) parameterization for fault-tolerant FPGA-based systems (FTFS). The FTFS IIP parameters classification is discussed and some elements of IIP parameterization technique are observed. Case-study of proposed technique is illustrated for the airborne ice protection system.

Applying Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology in cloud infrastructure and heterogeneous computations is of great interest today. FPGA as a Service assumes that the programmable logic device (PLD) is used as a remote (available over the Internet) service with an FPGA silicon chip on board. During the prototyping of FPGA-based projects within modern design flow, it is necessary to consider the processing delays caused by various factors, including the delay of data transfer between the kernel and host computer, limited clock frequency, and multiple parallel-running FPGA accelerator cards. To address these challenges, three techniques are proposed to reduce the required modification efforts and improve project performance. Based on the proposed models, the analytical evaluation of the functioning process of FPGA as a Service is performed to determine possibilities of improving productivity and reducing the response time. The practical experience of porting FPGA projects to new integrated environments is considered. The evaluation of the response time of FPGA as a Service using the queueing theory is proposed. It is shown that scaling and parallelization at the top level of project hierarchy, pipelining, and parameterization allow for the effective deployment of such FPGA systems for data centers and cloud infrastructures. The proposed techniques and models allow for an evaluation of the performance and response time of FPGA as a Service for formulating recommendations to improve technical characteristics.

The subject of study in this article is the modern technologies of programmable logic devices, the history of product changes of leading manufacturers, including development environments, and project optimization processes. The goal is to improve modern methods, technologies, and software tools for the development and integration of FPGA-as-a-Service in the form of services in cloud infrastructures, data centers, and on-board high-performance systems, with taking into account the ever-changing conditions and requirements, and the constraints of platforms. Task: to analyze the history of product changes of the leading vendors and manufacturers of programmable logic devices; analyze the dynamics of changes in the functionality of project development environments for FPGA-based systems, with taking into account the existing requirements and restrictions from vendors of software and hardware platforms and components; perform a comparative analysis of modern development boards and accelerator cards for the prototyping and testing of projects based on the chips of programmable logic; analyze the use of an existing services and solutions based on FPGA technologies as part of cloud services from modern cloud providers; propose practical steps for the development of systems based on FPGA resistant to project requirements change; propose the sequence for the development and optimization of high-performance systems with their implementation based on FPGA; and to provide practical example of the use of the proposed method. According to the tasks, the following results were obtained. The history of changes in the leading companies of programmable logic manufacturers, as well as changes in versions of the development environments and the products of one of the largest companies, is analyzed. The use of existing FPGA-based solutions as part of cloud services is analyzed in detail. Two sequences for optimizing projects and increasing their productivity with reducing of the prototyping efforts during their creation and porting to new versions of software and hardware platforms are provided. Based on the results of the research, a prototype was developed and tested, which allowed the application of the proposed method in practice for adapting and porting the FPGA as a service project during the transfer to another version of the accelerator card. Conclusions. The main contribution and scientific novelty of the obtained results is that an experimental study of the paradigm of runtime reprogramming of programmable logic was performed, which made it possible to formulate the elements of a new method of creation projects as a service for cloud infrastructures, data centers, and artificial intelligence systems. A set of practical steps for the development of systems that are tolerant to changes in conditions and requirements is proposed. The application of the proposed method allows to avoid costs of project support in the case of changes in requirements.

The subject of study in this article and work is the modern technologies of programmable logic devices (PLD) classified as FPGA, and the peculiarities of its application in Internet-of-Things domain at different architectural layers of the implementation, as well as the elements of decision making during choosing of appropriate solutions based on FPGA in the context of implementation of IoT tasks with the requirements of intensive computations. The goal is to analyze the possibilities and peculiarities of the application of technology of programmable logic devices as part of the modern architecture of the Internet of Things with the improvement of decision making process during the choosing of appropriate technical solutions for the use of FPGA with taking into account the types of tasks. Tasks: to analyze the current state of demands regarding the use of FPGA technology in IoT projects; to analyze the challenges and limitations for the application of FPGA technology at different layers during the prototyping of IoT infrastructure; to propose ways of the use of FPGA technology in the IoT infrastructure with the use of high-speed computations; to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approaches of integration of FPGA technology; to provide recommendations and determine the further direction of the research of the use of FPGA technology as a part of the IoT infrastructure considering of AI/ML tasks; to provide a practical example of the use of FPGA technology during the creation of a high-performance IoT system. According to the tasks, the following results were obtained. The analysis of the current state of the use of FPGA technology in IoT projects is performed, that showed the significant potential of these technologies for the implementation of high-speed computations in Internet of Things systems. A classification of the ways of applying FPGA in the tasks of real-time data processing and implementation of neural networks is proposed. The set of limitations of the possibility of FPGA technology applying at different layers of IoT infrastructure is defined. It includes high equipment costs, the need for specific design skills, limitations in energy consumption, and the complexity of the integration with existing systems. The practical example of the use of the IoT system with the implementation of high-intensive computations is provided. Conclusions. The main contribution and scientific novelty of the obtained results is that the conducted analysis allows to make a decision about the possibility of applying programmable logic in the construction of IoT projects and home automation systems. Based on the proposed classification of types of IoT tasks, there is a possibility of making a decision on the application of FPGA technology as a separate integrated circuit in the system or using a complete instance of FPGA as a Service in the cloud environment.