What is DFE?

DFE most commonly refers to a Data Flow Engine, which is a type of processing architecture particularly well-suited for high-throughput, data-intensive applications. Data flow engines are designed to execute operations on a stream of data, where the output of one operation feeds directly into the input of the next, creating a 'data flow'. This contrasts with traditional von Neumann architectures that rely on instruction sequences. Key advantages include inherent parallelism, efficient resource utilization, and the ability to handle massive data streams in real-time. FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) are often used to implement DFE's due to their reconfigurable hardware which allows for efficient customization for a specific data flow.