Data reallocation by exploiting FPGA configuration mechanisms

Abstract

Xilinx Virtex and Spartan FPGAs offer the possibility of dynamic and partial reconfiguration. This feature can be used in self-adaptive systems for providing the possibility to meet application requirements by exchanging parts of the hardware while other parts stay operative. The designer has to pay special attention to the communication wires connecting and crossing the reconfigurable areas. Module interfacing is still relatively complex, resource consuming and inflexible especially when regarding 2-dimensional reconfiguration approaches. In this paper a method is exploitet that overcomes these limitations achieved by using the reconfiguration interface not only for device configuration but also for data transfer between modules. In this paper we describe the approach in detail and present first implementation results. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.