ACADEMIA

Nallatech, the FPGA high-performance computing solutions experts, announced that Houston-based R. Associates Inc. has joined Nallatech's Channel Partner Program. R. Associates and Nallatech have computing solutions in operation that are speeding data computation and analysis to support oil and gas exploration in demanding seismic processing applications. The two companies have successfully implemented FPGA-based computing solutions to evaluate critical measurements in seismic processing including Kirchoff pre-stack time and depth migration series, as well as wave migration studies. The collaboration is evaluating ways to process the terabyte-sized data from algorithms found in wave migration equation processing. A geophysicist recently evaluated FPGA computing performance for R. Associates with a focus on total cost of ownership. In findings, the FPGA solution saves more than $10,000 in electricity bills per year per 64-processor 19" rack, based on seven cents per kilowatt hour. This demonstrates quicker response time and potentially millions of dollars in savings per year for R. Associates customers in Houston, London and other major oil and gas exploration centers. "Nallatech's FPGA solutions meet and often exceed R. Associates customers' needs for reduced cost, footprint, efficient use of space and faster processing. As an example, their ability to quickly develop algorithms for our demanding pre-stack time migration application has resulted in a 17-to-1 increase in performance," said Herb Riley, president of R. Associates. "We anticipate that the leading companies in oil and gas exploration will want to receive the business benefits of being the first to offer this state-of-the art FPGA computation speed with a lower total cost of ownership than found in their previous applications." "Nallatech's work with R. Associates continues the success that we are demonstrating in real-world applications, including one of the most demanding data and environmental analysis areas of remote mobile computing for oil exploration. This collaboration is an important benchmark for companies that need massive data processing capabilities of FPGAs that can be analyzed and acted on quickly," said Ed Hennessy, VP North American Operations for Nallatech. "Nallatech is demonstrating an understanding that customers of firms like R. Associates want solutions with the highest performance, delivered quickly and offering the best possible value." In 2005-06, Nallatech's Channel Partner program will contribute to continued growth through customer wins in various industries and application areas.