Three Universities Using Ambric Massively Parallel Processor Array Technology in New, Advanced Research Projects

Business Wire, Dec 3, 2007

Charter Members University of Washington, Portland State University, and Halmstad University Kick Off Ambric University Program

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Ambric([R]), Inc., a fabless semiconductor company shipping the world's first teraOPS-class chip that makes massively parallel software development practical for complex embedded systems, announced that three universities are now using Ambric's massively parallel processor array (MPPA) technology in new, advanced research projects. The three institutions, which are charter members of the program, include the University of Washington and Portland State University in the U.S. and Sweden's Halmstad University. Ambric is a privately held fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Beaverton, Ore., with funding from ComVentures, OVP Venture Partners, and Northwest Technology Ventures.

"We are very pleased to have these leading-edge universities as charter members of Ambric's new University Program," said Mike Butts, Ambric senior architect and Fellow. "These universities, and their distinguished professors and graduate students, are extending the boundaries of knowledge in massively parallel and embedded computing. The charter members are engaged in unique, advanced research in massively parallel software engineering, system partitioning, dynamically reprogrammable embedded systems, medical imaging, software-defined radios, computer vision, and advanced signal processing. Massively parallel computing will benefit not only from this close university and industry collaboration, but also from the unique Ambric structural object programming model and globally asynchronous silicon with 1.2 teraOPS and hundreds of processors. We are eager to see the results of their research projects."

About Ambric's University Program

The Ambric University Program was established to enable leading-edge, massively parallel processing technology for computer science engineering research and course curricula. Massively parallel processing is recognized as the only way to keep scaling processor technology to keep up with Moore's Law(a) over time. Universities that need to do research and educate engineers in massively parallel programming need a practical programming model, tools, boards, and reliable silicon with literally hundreds of different processors. Ambric's family of Am2000[TM] MPPAs provides just that with its innovative globally asynchronous interconnect fabric, a process network(b) with bounded buffers. Ambric's MPPA technology uniquely enables massively parallel research that otherwise would be difficult or impossible to accomplish. Initial installations of the hardware and software tools started in July of 2007 and projects are now being implemented with the technology.

Benefits of membership in the Ambric University Program include free or discounted access to Ambric's massively parallel software development tools, Am2045[TM] MPPA developer boards with 344 processors and 1.2 teraOPS, and training. Universities interested in joining the program can contact Ambric by sending email with their name, university, country, research interests, and any questions to Mike Butts, mike@ambric.com.

Charter Member Universities Are Very Enthusiastic About Ambric's Technology

University of Washington

The sponsoring professor at the University of Washington, Professor Scott Hauck, is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He is also the director of the Adaptive Computing Machines and Emulators Lab. His work has been focused around FPGAs, chips that can be programmed and reprogrammed, using hardware description languages to implement complex digital logic. Domains of research have included medical imaging, image processing, reconfigurable subsystems, asynchronous circuits, design tool compilers, and system partitioning. Professors Hauck and Andre DeHon are editors of a just-released book on reconfigurable computing, entitled "Reconfigurable Computing: The Theory and Practice of FPGA-Based Computation", published by Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier. Graduate students have already begun thesis work using Ambric MPPA technology and development tools. For more information visit http://www.ee.washington.edu/people/faculty/hauck/, http://www.ee.washington.edu/ and http://www.cs.washington.edu/.> Commented Professor Hauck, "The inability of general purpose processors to double their performance every eighteen months, as previously enabled by Moore's law, has created new opportunities for massively parallel processing devices, especially for high-performance application domains. Reconfigurable architectures, such as Ambric's, represent a sweet spot among FPGAs, ASICs, and DSPs, and may be the future of reconfigurable systems for streaming applications."

Portland State University

The sponsoring professor at Portland State University is Professor Dan Hammerstrom, associate dean for the Research, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science. His research interests center on intelligent computing, based on applying lessons from biological systems. Difficult computer science problems involve the interaction of a system with the real world, which, in part, involves a transformation and understanding of data at the boundary between the real world and the digital world. Graduate students are currently engaged in research work using Ambric MPPA technology and development tools. For more information visit http://www.pdx.edu/cecs/.>