Big data, high-performance application case sharing | prodesign accelerator card uses Samtec NovaRay® ultra-high density array

【Abstract/Introduction】

The recent popularity and attention ChatGPT has received highlights the progress that artificial intelligence has made in impacting everyday life.

Has anyone used ChatGPT to complete homework or write a blog? Disclaimer: This article is definitely written by a real person~

Regardless, the backbone of chatbots and similar services like ChatGPT is a high-performance computing platform that enables neural network and AI acceleration in the data center. Obviously, GPUs are at the forefront of AI hardware architectures.

However, other solutions for specific applications are also entering the market.

[New FPGA acceleration platform from PRO DESIGN]

"prodesign HAWK" and "prodesign FALCON" from PRO DESIGN are good examples of new acceleration platforms. These new FPGA cards are targeted at high-performance computing (HPC) and were developed with a focus on innovation, cutting-edge technology and the highest quality requirements and functionality.

Based on 40 years of experience in the E²MS and FPGA market, PRO DESIGN has extensive knowledge in FPGA design, circuit board development, electronic engineering, high-performance PCB design, structure, production, assembly and testing. PRO DESIGN experts work closely together to leverage interdisciplinary synergies. The result is powerful, cost-effective, high-end solutions with advanced concepts, short process cycles and high reliability.

The prodesign FALCON Stratix®10 accelerator card is based on Intel's high-end Stratix 10 MX/NX technology and is the ultimate multi-function accelerator for high-performance computing, data centers, virtual networks, and broadcast solutions. Stratix 10 integrates 3D stacked High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) with huge memory bandwidth (up to 512Gbit/s. More than 2,000,000 logic elements (LEs), more than 3,900 digital signal processing (DSP) blocks, and up to 57.8 GBit/s (PAM4) transceiver speeds enable users to implement their designs at the fastest speed and with the greatest flexibility. In addition, the PCIe card is equipped with Intel MAX10, which is used as a board management controller (BMC).

In addition to Stratix 10 technology, the prodesign FALCON supports PCIe® 3.0 x16 and provides incredibly high I/O bandwidth with four 100GE QSFP-DD front-end ports enabling 8x 100Gbit/s or 4x 200Gbit/s.

Samtec NovaRay® Ultra-High Density Array

Additional connectivity is provided for DDR4 memory modules or custom expansion boards via three programmable SO-DIMM sockets. Additional expansion capabilities are also provided by three Samtec NovaRay® 112 Gbps PAM4 extreme density arrays.

NovaRay®’s innovative design combines extreme density with extreme performance, which is critical to reducing system size and increasing system speed. The fully shielded differential pair design and two reliable contact points help achieve the industry-leading 4.0 Tbps total data transfer rate.

The NovaRay® connector perfectly complements the connectivity of the prodesign FALCON card. Each NovaRay® has 8 transceiver channels, 10 additional I/Os, and 2 differential clock pairs, enabling the interconnection of multiple PCIe cards or the addition of custom expansion boards while maintaining an unparalleled small size. The choice of using NovaRay® arrays or cable assemblies fully exploits the flexibility of the prodesign FALCON platform.

[Achieving the path to 224G PAM4 performance]

In fact, the Samtec NovaRay® family is one of our flagship performance interconnect solutions. NovaRay® is designed to not only operate at 112Gbps PAM4 performance, but also provides a path to 224Gbps.

It is able to achieve 224Gbps performance because of its unique BGA-style connector structure, dual-point arm-type contact on each mating contact, dedicated differential pair design, and shielding and grounding around each differential pair.