Altera FPGAs in High Performance Computing(HPC) Applications

[Altera_Forum]

I am trying to better understand the different methodologies on using Altera FPGAs as a coprocessor in HPC applications. 

 Believe there there are four known methodologies. Familair with the first three..   1. Module plugs into processor socket connection-Intel FSB   2. Module plugs into processor socket connection-AMD HyperTransport   3. Module plugged via PCI express interface   4. a. Module plugs into system memory DIMM socket  b. Module plugs into a hard drive bay and connects to processor via DIMM socket   Trying to get a better feel for Item-4. Wanted to know the pro's and con's of using FPGA on a memory DIMM socket?  Does anybody know of any third party companies that use this approach and offer solutions in this space?  Thanks!

[Altera_Forum]

SRC Computers is the company I've heard of for# 4. They were started by Seymour Cray and do a number of different accelerator-type products. Also be sure to investigate the development side, i.e. hardware/software interaction. If you're ready to write HDL, it's usually not a big deal, but a lot of users investigating this area only write C for processors and want to "push a button" to create hardware from their C. 

www.srccomp.com

[Altera_Forum]

Thank you.

[Altera_Forum]

For Solutions like# 1 and# 2 try XtremeData. They have some good engineers and are working on developing a more sophisticated toolchain compared to the RTL route. 

 http://www.xtremedatainc.com/products.html  Brian

[Altera_Forum]

Yes, I did look into Xtremedata products for# 1 and# 2. And for# 3 found GiDEL's solutions suitable www.gidel.com. They have have a tool that can map DSP Builder model based designs to Altera FPGA via PCI express interface(Hardware In the Loop Methodology). 

 BTW: I am interested in seeing data throughput MB/s for two of Xtremedata's products  1. 2S180 FPGA connected via Intel FSB to a Xeon processor(Xtremedata)   FSB interface supports 1066MHz and 64 bits. FPGA I/O connected via FSB might have some speed limitations. What I am looking for the real data throughput that was achieved b/w a 2S180 and a Xeon processor(MB/s)?   2. 2S180 FPGA connected via AMD HyperTransport to an Opteron Processor HyperTransport standard supports 3.2GB/sec(1.6 each way). Again the data I am looking for is the actual throughput between a 2S180 and an Opteron processor.  Any thoughts on this?  Thanks!