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A Superscalar Out-of-Order x86 Soft Processor for FPGA (2017)

(tspace.library.utoronto.ca)
90 points matt_d | 1 comments | 07 Mar 19 15:59 UTC | HN request time: 0.197s | source
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Skunkleton ◴[07 Mar 19 22:31 UTC] No.19333243[source]▶
I am by no means an expert in digital design (I have only worked with them as a SWE), but it seems to me that the use cases for a high performance soft processor are pretty few and far between. After all, if you want a fast processor you can get a hard processor with excellent performance/support for less than the FPGA fabric likely cost.

Still a cool piece of tech though.

replies(4): >>19333342 #>>19333803 #>>19334865 #>>19336752 #
1. boomlinde ◴[08 Mar 19 11:48 UTC] No.19336752[source]▶
Suppose that my board already has an FPGA, and that the choice between a soft CPU and an additional chip hinges on performance. You don't want a fast CPU for no particular reason. Rather, you want a CPU that is fast enough to perform its intended tasks.