FPGA-Accelerated 3rd Generation DNA Sequencing

IEEE Trans Biomed Circuits Syst. 2020 Feb;14(1):65-74. doi: 10.1109/TBCAS.2019.2958049. Epub 2019 Dec 9.

Abstract

DNA measurement machines are undergoing an orders-of-magnitude size and power reduction. As a result, the analysis of genetic molecules is increasingly appropriate for mobile platforms. However, sequencing these measurements (converting to the molecule's A-C-G-T text equivalent) requires intense computing resources, a problem for potential realizations as mobile devices. This paper proposes a step towards addressing this issue, the design and implementation of a low-power real-time FPGA hardware accelerator for the basecalling task of nanopore-based DNA measurements. Key basecalling computations are identified and ported to a custom FPGA which operates in tandem with a CPU across a high-speed serial link and a simple API. A measured speed-up over CPU-only basecalling in excess of 100X is realized with an energy efficiency improvement of three orders of magnitude.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Computational Biology / instrumentation
  • DNA / analysis*
  • Nanopores
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA / instrumentation*

Substances

  • DNA