A MATLAB compiler for distributed, heterogeneous, reconfigurable computing systems

Abstract

Recently, high-level languages such as MATLAB have become popular in prototyping algorithms in domains such as signal and image processing. Many of these applications whose subtasks have diverse execution requirements, often employ distributed, heterogeneous, reconfigurable systems. These systems consist of an interconnected set of heterogeneous processing resources that provide a variety of architectural capabilities. The objective of the MATCH (MATLAB Compiler for Heterogeneous Computing Systems) compiler project at Northwestern University is to make it easier for the users to develop efficient code for distributed heterogeneous, reconfigurable computing systems. Towards this end we are implementing and evaluating an experimental prototype of a software system that will take MATLAB descriptions of various applications, and automatically map them on to a distributed computing environment consisting of embedded processors, digital signal processors and field-programmable gale arrays built from commercial off-the-shelf components. We provide an overview of the MATCH compiler and discuss the testbed which is being used to demonstrate our ideas. We present preliminary experimental results on some benchmark MATLAB programs with the use of the MATCH compiler.