Framework and tools for run-time reconfigurable designs

Abstract

The paper describes a framework and tools for automating the production of designs that can be partially reconfigured at run time. The approach involves several stages, including: (i) a partial evaluation stage, which produces configuration files for a given design, where the number of configurations is minimised during the compile-time sequencing stage; (ii) an incremental configuration calculation stage, which takes the output of the partial evaluator and generates an initial configuration file and incremental configuration files that partially update preceding configurations; and (iii) an optimisation stage for devices or systems supporting simultaneous configuration of multiple components. While many of the techniques are independent of the design language and device used, experimental tools have been developed that target Xilinx 6200 devices. Simultaneous configuration, for example, can be used to reduce the time for reconfiguring an adder to a subtractor from time linear with respect to its size to constant time at best and logarithmic time at worst. The tools have been used in developing a variety of designs, including arithmetic, video and database applications.