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FPGA Innovation Research in the Netherlands: Present Landscape and Future Outlook

Nikolaos Alachiotis, Sjoerd van den Belt, Steven van der Vlugt, Reinier van der Walle, Mohsen Safari, Bruno Endres Forlin, Tiziano De Matteis, Zaid Al-Ars, Roel Jordans, António J. Sousa de Almeida, Federico Corradi, Christiaan Baaij, Ana-Lucia Varbanescu

TL;DR

The paper surveys FPGA innovation in the Netherlands over the past five years, framing the problem of energy-efficient, high-performance computing for data-driven workloads. It consolidates a diverse literature base into five themes—FPGA architecture, robustness, data center/HPC, programming models and tools, and applications—and identifies 212 relevant Dutch publications, including 120 application-focused works across machine learning, astronomy, particle physics, quantum computing, space, and bioinformatics. The study highlights near-memory computing, CGRA templates, and NoC developments as core architectural strands, alongside advances in data-center frameworks, performance prediction, and security/reliability. The findings aim to inform national investment and policy, while underscoring the need for open-source tooling, reproducible evaluation, and stronger industry-academia collaboration to sustain Netherlands' leadership in energy-efficient FPGA technology.

Abstract

FPGAs have transformed digital design by enabling versatile and customizable solutions that balance performance and power efficiency, yielding them essential for today's diverse computing challenges. Research in the Netherlands, both in academia and industry, plays a major role in developing new innovative FPGA solutions. This survey presents the current landscape of FPGA innovation research in the Netherlands by delving into ongoing projects, advancements, and breakthroughs in the field. Focusing on recent research outcome (within the past 5 years), we have identified five key research areas: a) FPGA architecture, b) FPGA robustness, c) data center infrastructure and high-performance computing, d) programming models and tools, and e) applications. This survey provides in-depth insights beyond a mere snapshot of the current innovation research landscape by highlighting future research directions within each key area; these insights can serve as a foundational resource to inform potential national-level investments in FPGA technology.

FPGA Innovation Research in the Netherlands: Present Landscape and Future Outlook

TL;DR

The paper surveys FPGA innovation in the Netherlands over the past five years, framing the problem of energy-efficient, high-performance computing for data-driven workloads. It consolidates a diverse literature base into five themes—FPGA architecture, robustness, data center/HPC, programming models and tools, and applications—and identifies 212 relevant Dutch publications, including 120 application-focused works across machine learning, astronomy, particle physics, quantum computing, space, and bioinformatics. The study highlights near-memory computing, CGRA templates, and NoC developments as core architectural strands, alongside advances in data-center frameworks, performance prediction, and security/reliability. The findings aim to inform national investment and policy, while underscoring the need for open-source tooling, reproducible evaluation, and stronger industry-academia collaboration to sustain Netherlands' leadership in energy-efficient FPGA technology.

Abstract

FPGAs have transformed digital design by enabling versatile and customizable solutions that balance performance and power efficiency, yielding them essential for today's diverse computing challenges. Research in the Netherlands, both in academia and industry, plays a major role in developing new innovative FPGA solutions. This survey presents the current landscape of FPGA innovation research in the Netherlands by delving into ongoing projects, advancements, and breakthroughs in the field. Focusing on recent research outcome (within the past 5 years), we have identified five key research areas: a) FPGA architecture, b) FPGA robustness, c) data center infrastructure and high-performance computing, d) programming models and tools, and e) applications. This survey provides in-depth insights beyond a mere snapshot of the current innovation research landscape by highlighting future research directions within each key area; these insights can serve as a foundational resource to inform potential national-level investments in FPGA technology.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 85 sections, 4 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Context
  3. Survey focus
  4. Survey Method
  5. Step 1: Scopus-wide search
  6. Step 2: Select publishers
  7. Step 3: Select conferences and journals
  8. Final literature selection
  9. Research Themes
  10. FPGA Architecture
  11. Near-Memory Computing (NMC)
  12. Genomics
  13. Weather prediction
  14. Phylogenetics
  15. Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architecture (CGRA)
  16. ...and 70 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: The number of FPGA related publications published by Dutch organizations within the past 5 years. Only organizations with at least two relevant publications are shown.
  • Figure 2: The themes that are selected can be differentiated based on their domain-specificity, ranging from very domain-focused to general purpose, and based on whether the main focus is on hardware or software.
  • Figure 3: Number of publications per theme for each organization with more than one relevant publication.
  • Figure 4: Trust chain demonstrated in the FPGA-based system market. The "interaction barrier" marks the point where the interactions become complex with trust being provided and required for the transactions. Adapted from Zhang2014ASystems.