Reconfigurable System-on-Chip

Reconfigurable System-on-Chip Reconfigurable Computing is a new style of computer architecture enabled by the availability of high density programmable logic chips, or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays). FPGAs are integrated circuits consisting of large arrays of uncommitted logic gates and interconnection wires.

The chips are programmed for a specific function by downloading a stream of programming bits to select gate functions and wire connections. A new hardware program can be downloaded to these chips in a few milliseconds. When these chips are added to a conventional computer, we have a machine where we can not only program the software for the computer, but where we can also change the hardware that executes the software.

Reconfigurable computing is a new research area which has developed worldwide over the last decade. In this time around 100 different experimental reconfigurable computers have been designed worldwide, and approximately half have actually been built. The area has its own yearly cycles of specialist conferences, and there are several hundred researchers working in this area worldwide. Many of the experimental machines have shown execution time speedups of hundreds or thousands of times compared to conventional workstations, or even supercomputers. The significance of reconfigurable computing lies in its ability to deliver computing structures with the speed of dedicated hardware circuits, but with the programmability of software.

While there is good evidence now that reconfigurable computing can provide low cost, high performance computing, there is also evidence that these speedups are only available for limited classes of applications.

Our research contribution in this area is through a focussed research program which:

aims to identify those application domains where reconfigurable computing is likely to yield performance benefits,
within those application domains to decide when reconfigurable computing is most profitably applied, and
how to best design reconfigurable computing structures.

To ensure a successful research contribution, we have developed a research plan to answer these questions. The plan is as follows:-

To identify one or more target application domains where reconfigurable computing has potential to provide significant performance benefits.
To develop a network of local, national and international collaborators to provide real problems in these application domains which my research can solve.
To establish a base of research funding, research staff, and research students to enable significant research to be undertaken.
To establish routes to allow exploitation of the research results.