Accelerated Financial Applications through Specialized Hardware, FPGA

Abstract

This project will investigate Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology in financial applications. FPGA implementation in high performance computing is still in its infancy. Certain companies like XtremeData inc. advertized speed improvements of 50 to 1000 times for DNA sequencing using FPGAs, while using an FPGA as a coprocessor to handle specific tasks provides two to three times more processing power. FPGA technology increases performance by parallelizing calculations. This project will specifically address speed and accuracy improvements of both fundamental and transcendental functions when implemented using FPGA technology. The results of this project will lead to a series of recommendations for effective utilization of FPGA technology in financial applications