Crossroads for Data

Field Programmable Gate Arrays, or FPGAs, are an essential asset to an electrical and computer engineering curriculum. These integrated circuits can be reprogrammed by a user into different digital logic circuits after they have been manufactured. FPGAs are widely used: from military and aerospace applications to video and telecommunication equipment, and nowadays in data centers. This popular technology is an essential cornerstone to modern-day electronics. FPGAs have been undergoing rapid and dramatic changes fueled by their expanding use in computing. The new Intel/VMware Crossroads 3D-FPGA Academic Research Center , an Intel and VMware co-funded, multiuniversity, multidisciplinary effort involving students and faculty from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Toronto and the University of Texas-Austin (UT-Austin), has been formed to determine the role of FPGAs in extending the performance and efficiency of future data centers. "Crossroads is guided by both the demands of modern networked, data-centric computing and the new capabilities from 3D integration," said James Hoe , lead principal investigator of the research center and professor of electrical and computer engineering.