Computational analysis of genetics data using field programmable gate arrays

Summary

​With the rapid increase in the quantity of molecular genetics data being collected for livestock, analyses using sequential computers are becoming the rate limiting step.  Concurrently, the exponential increase in computer speed over the last decades has slowed, with recent improvements due to multi-core processing rather than clock speed alone.  This project successfully applied new and emerging computer technologies to capitalise on the investments in molecular genetics made by the Australian livestock industries, with the goal of allowing the efficient incorporation of molecular genetics data into industry genetic evaluations.  The focus was on parallelizing problems to run on processors with multiple cores, ranging from quad-core CPUs, graphics processors with hundreds of cores, and user configurable hardware devices with thousands of cores. ​