Heterogeneous computing systems refer to electronic systems that use a variety of different types of computational units. A computational unit could be a general-purpose processor (GPP), a special-purpose processor (i.e. digital signal processor (DSP) or graphics processing unit (GPU)), a co-processor, or custom acceleration logic (application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA)). In general a heterogeneous computing platform consists of processors with different instruction set architectures (ISAs).

The demand for increased heterogeneity in computing systems is partially due to the need for high-performance, highly-reactive systems that interact with other environments (audio/video systems, control systems, networked applications, etc.). In the past, huge advances in technology and frequency scaling allowed the majority of computer applications to increase in performance without requiring structural changes or custom hardware acceleration. While these advances continue, their effect on modern applications is not as dramatic as other obstacles such as the memory-wall and power-wall come into play. Now, with these additional constraints, the primary method of gaining extra performance out of computing systems is to introduce additional specialized resources, thus making a computing system heterogeneous.

This allows a designer to use multiple types of processing elements, each able to perform the tasks that it is best suited for. The addition of extra, independent computing resources necessarily allows most heterogeneous systems to be considered parallel computing systems. Another term sometimes seen for this type of computing is "hybrid computing".

Heterogeneous computing systems present new challenges not found in typical homogeneous systems. The presence of multiple processing elements raises all of the issues involved with homogeneous parallel processing systems, while the level of heterogeneity in the system can introduce non-uniformity in system development, programming practices, and overall system capability. Areas of heterogeneity can include: Heterogeneous platforms often require the use of multiple compilers in order to target the different types of compute elements found in such platforms.

This results in a more complicated development process compared to homogeneous systems process; as multiple compilers and linkers must be used together in a cohesive way in order to properly target a heterogeneous platform.

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