Configuration subsystem design exploration for domain-specific reconfigurable technologies
Milan Vasilko · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2001
This paper presents an example of using a reconfigurable systems CAD tool (DYNASTY Framework) for the design exploration of various configuration subsystems in a specific reconfigurable technology. Given a set of application domain benchmarks, it is possible to examine whether a selected device configuration subsystem provides performance suitable for the targeted application domain. The approach is based on a `plug-in' technology server, implemented in the DYNASTY Framework, which allows for many different configuration subsystems to be modelled at high level. The feasibility of using a specific configuration subsystem for the selected application domain can be assessed without the need to produce transistor-level device models. As an example, the paper presents an evaluation of partial reconfiguration performance for a simple design with two arithmetic modules. The design reconfiguration performance is evaluated for three different configuration subsystems (parallel random-access, frame-based and context-switched) implemented on top of the Xilinx XC6200 device architecture.