AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow

The increasing complexity of algorithms in embedded applications has amplified the demand for high-performance computing. Heterogeneous embedded systems, particularly FPGA-based systems-on-chip (SoCs), enhance execution speed by integrating hardware accelerator intellectual property (IP) cores. Howe...

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Main Authors: David Berrazueta-Mena, Byron Navas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Computers
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/5/189
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author David Berrazueta-Mena
Byron Navas
author_facet David Berrazueta-Mena
Byron Navas
author_sort David Berrazueta-Mena
collection DOAJ
description The increasing complexity of algorithms in embedded applications has amplified the demand for high-performance computing. Heterogeneous embedded systems, particularly FPGA-based systems-on-chip (SoCs), enhance execution speed by integrating hardware accelerator intellectual property (IP) cores. However, traditional low-level IP-core design presents significant challenges. High-level synthesis (HLS) offers a promising alternative, enabling efficient FPGA development through high-level programming languages. Yet, effective methodologies for designing and evaluating heterogeneous FPGA-based SoCs remain crucial. This study surveys HLS tools and design concepts and presents the development of the AHA IP cores, a set of five benchmarking accelerators for rapid Zynq-based SoC evaluation. These accelerators target compute-intensive tasks, including matrix multiplication, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). We establish a streamlined design flow using AMD-Xilinx tools for rapid prototyping and testing FPGA-based heterogeneous platforms. We outline criteria for selecting algorithms to improve speed and resource efficiency in HLS design. Our performance evaluation across various configurations highlights performance–resource trade-offs and demonstrates that ANN and BPNN achieve significant parallelism, while AES optimization increases resource utilization the most. Matrix multiplication shows strong optimization potential, whereas FFT is constrained by data dependencies.
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spelling doaj-art-df80fc8d54a2479e94c278dfdee73adf2025-08-20T03:47:53ZengMDPI AGComputers2073-431X2025-05-0114518910.3390/computers14050189AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP FlowDavid Berrazueta-Mena0Byron Navas1Departamento de Eléctrica, Electrónica y Telecomunicaciones, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolqui 171103, EcuadorDepartamento de Eléctrica, Electrónica y Telecomunicaciones, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolqui 171103, EcuadorThe increasing complexity of algorithms in embedded applications has amplified the demand for high-performance computing. Heterogeneous embedded systems, particularly FPGA-based systems-on-chip (SoCs), enhance execution speed by integrating hardware accelerator intellectual property (IP) cores. However, traditional low-level IP-core design presents significant challenges. High-level synthesis (HLS) offers a promising alternative, enabling efficient FPGA development through high-level programming languages. Yet, effective methodologies for designing and evaluating heterogeneous FPGA-based SoCs remain crucial. This study surveys HLS tools and design concepts and presents the development of the AHA IP cores, a set of five benchmarking accelerators for rapid Zynq-based SoC evaluation. These accelerators target compute-intensive tasks, including matrix multiplication, Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). We establish a streamlined design flow using AMD-Xilinx tools for rapid prototyping and testing FPGA-based heterogeneous platforms. We outline criteria for selecting algorithms to improve speed and resource efficiency in HLS design. Our performance evaluation across various configurations highlights performance–resource trade-offs and demonstrates that ANN and BPNN achieve significant parallelism, while AES optimization increases resource utilization the most. Matrix multiplication shows strong optimization potential, whereas FFT is constrained by data dependencies.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/5/189accelerator architecturesbenchmarkdesign automationembedded systemsFPGA-based acceleratorheterogeneous systems
spellingShingle David Berrazueta-Mena
Byron Navas
AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow
Computers
accelerator architectures
benchmark
design automation
embedded systems
FPGA-based accelerator
heterogeneous systems
title AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow
title_full AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow
title_fullStr AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow
title_full_unstemmed AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow
title_short AHA: Design and Evaluation of Compute-Intensive Hardware Accelerators for AMD-Xilinx Zynq SoCs Using HLS IP Flow
title_sort aha design and evaluation of compute intensive hardware accelerators for amd xilinx zynq socs using hls ip flow
topic accelerator architectures
benchmark
design automation
embedded systems
FPGA-based accelerator
heterogeneous systems
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-431X/14/5/189
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