AMD filed patent for 'CPU and FPGA hybrid processor'

AMD has applied for a patent for a processor that integrates an integrated circuit ' FPGA ' and a CPU that allows the purchaser to change the circuit configuration by himself. AMD acquired Xilinx , the inventor of FPGAs, in October 2020, and it is highly likely that it will focus on AI technology using FPGAs in the future.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EFFICIENT PROGRAMMABLE INSTRUCTIONS IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS --Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2020/0409707.html

AMD Patent Reveals Hybrid CPU-FPGA Design That Could Be Enabled By Xilinx Tech | HotHardware
https://hothardware.com/news/amd-patent-hybrid-cpu-fpga-design-xilinx

FPGA is an integrated circuit that allows the user to change the configuration settings by using a hardware description language . For this FPGA, AMD has newly added a reprogrammable execution unit that automatically executes special instructions associated with the FPGA by automatically reading the associated Bit file when the processor loads a specific program. It turns out that I had applied for a patent on multiple processors.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EFFICIENT PROGRAMMABLE INSTRUCTIONS IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/20200409707.pdf

According to the patent filed, the passing of instructions between the CPU and the embedded FPGA is achieved by the reprogrammable execution unit sharing registers with a processing unit such as an FPU . The reprogrammable execution unit also supports half-precision floating point numbers (FP16), which are used to speed up AI learning and inference.

AMD acquired Xilinx, the inventor of FPGA, in October 2020 for 3.6 trillion yen. With this acquisition, AMD will compete with Intel, which acquired FPGA giant Altera in 2015, to use FPGAs not only to speed up data centers and communication base stations, but also to speed up AI operations, which it has been working on for many years. It is expected to go.

AMD Acquires American Semiconductor Company Xilinx for 3.6 trillion Yen to Compete with Intel by Strengthening Business for Data Centers-GIGAZINE

Hot Hardware, an IT news site, said, 'Since the topic of FPGA has not been raised in the leak information about AMD EPYC of CPU for data centers, it is likely that it will take some time before a hybrid processor of CPU and FPGA actually appears. I point out.