HSA Foundation China Regional Committee Wraps Up Successful 2nd Annual Symposium

Wide Array of Interfaces, Specs Discussed for Next Gen of Heterogeneous Computing, AI, SDR, and More

BEIJING, CHINA, DEC. 20, 2017 -- The China Regional Committee (CRC) of the Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) Foundation has successfully concluded its 2nd Symposium in Beijing. The CRC was formed earlier this year; its mandate is to enhance the awareness of heterogeneous computing and promote the adoption of standards such as Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) in China.

More than 40 representatives of the CRC members and related companies, research institutes and universities throughout China attended the conference. HSA Foundation President Dr. John Glossner also participated in this important benchmark meeting that exchanged ideas on important topics including interfaces and specifications for the next generation of heterogeneous computing, vector parallel computing model, system security and protection, artificial intelligence, software defined radio, Network-on-Chip (NoC), and programming of commercial HSA chips. The meeting was co-organized by China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI) and the HSA Foundation's CRC, and sponsored by Huaxia General Processor Technologies.

Last year the HSA Foundation held its first Global Summit in Beijing. The CRC has actively carried out various work in conjunction with CESI for the development of global heterogeneous computing standards with a China focus.

At the meeting, each CRC working group shared its progress and insights on related key technologies:

Application & System Evaluation Working Group – "The application situation and development trend of artificial intelligence in China and typical rigid demands and key indicators of artificial intelligence" – presented by State Grid;
Virtual ISA Working Group – "Artificial intelligence instruction set design for heterogeneous computing and exploratory research of HSAIL artificial intelligence extended subset" – presented by Dr. Jun Han, Fudan University;
Interconnect Working Group – "Latest research results on network-on-chip in the heterogeneous computing SoCs, and the next step verification and standardization work arrangements" – presented by Dr. Zhiyi Yu, Sun Yat-sen University;
Compilation & Runtime LIB Working Group – "The latest research trends in vector computing models and related programming models, and basic recommendations for facilitating integration into HSA system architectures" – presented by Dr. Lei Wang, Huaxia General Processor Technologies;
System Architecture Working Group – "Using HSA to systematically address the basic views of software-defined communications, software-defined radio, heterogeneous multi-core chip architecture and application development" – presented by Wanting Tian, Sanechips Technology;
Security & Protection Working Group – "Research work and principles on adapting heterogeneous computing for security protection" – presented by Shaowei Chen, Nationz Technologies.

The CRC has been adding members since the first CRC Symposium in May; some of which include Huaqiao University, Hunan University, Jimei University, Tsinghua University, Xiamen University, Xiamen University of Technology and Zhejiang University.

Supporting quotes:

"The HSA Foundation CRC has been laying the groundwork for standardization progress in heterogeneous computing standards in China for almost a year. It is focused on supporting the needs of HSA Foundation members in China and helping to fulfill the mission of the Foundation, which is to make heterogeneous programming universally easier."
• Dr. John Glossner, HSA Foundation President

"Since its formation, the CRC has received the support and attention of many academic institutions, companies, and government authorities in China. The work product and coverage of the CRC has been expanding and developing rapidly, making it one of China's first "innovative brands" for standardization of heterogeneous computing. In 2018 the CRC and HSAF will work towards adoption of the v1.2 specifications and extensions enabling the transformation of HSA chips and platform products in many applications."
• Dr. Xiaodong Zhang, HSA Foundation CRC Chair

"The main research direction of our team is Software Defined Radio. Due to the flexibility of SDR, it allows for implementation across a wide range of applications. The earliest SDR platforms were based on FPGAs and DSPs with large size and high-power consumption making generalized SDR systems problematic. However, the HSA platform provides new possibilities for SDR research. HSA has many advantages such as low power consumption, low cost, and high integration. Those are hard to find in traditional SDR platforms."
• Dr. Ming Zhao, Professor, Tsinghua University

"Micro-Processor Research and development Center (MPRC) of Peking University is the pioneer of innovating indigenous microprocessor (CPU) and computer systems in China. To minimize the digital gap between developed and developing countries, MPRC is committed to the development of computers with independently developed CPUs and heterogeneous SoCs. The advantage of a heterogeneous architecture is the ability to be adaptable. During the evolution from desktop computing to mobile computing to Big Data, systems that adapt are the ones that are most successful. MPRC will work together with other members in HSA Foundation to improve life with heterogeneous technology."
• Dr. Junlin Lu, Deputy director of MPRC, Peking University

About the HSA Foundation

The HSA (Heterogeneous System Architecture) Foundation is a non-profit consortium of SoC IP vendors, OEMs, Academia, SoC vendors, OSVs and ISVs, whose goal is making programming for parallel computing easy and pervasive. HSA members are building a heterogeneous computing ecosystem, rooted in industry standards, which combines scalar processing on the CPU with parallel processing on the GPU, while enabling high bandwidth access to memory and high application performance with low power consumption. HSA defines interfaces for parallel computation using CPU, GPU and other programmable and fixed function devices, while supporting a diverse set of high-level programming languages, and creating the foundation for next-generation, general-purpose computing.

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