New architectures and computer-aided design algorithms for programmable logic

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The development of computer chips normally requires access to a chip fabrication plant. The cost of accessing such a plant is out-of-reach for most small and medium-sized Canadian electronics companies. In the proposed research, we focus on an alternate way of building computer chips: using a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). An FPGA is a pre-manufactured chip which can be configured, in seconds, to implement virtually any electronic circuit. Once configured, these devices can be included in electronic devices such as communication equipment, computers, and consumer devices. Compared to fabricating a chip, using an FPGA leads to slower circuits (about 3x slower). In addition, only about 1/20 of the circuitry that can fit onto a custom chip will fit onto an FPGA. This makes FPGAs unsuitable for many applications. The goal of the proposed research is to improve the structure of FPGAs to make them faster and capable of containing more circuitry. If successful, this will allow many more companies to use these devices than ever before, allowing them to create competitive products cheaper and faster. In addition to improving the structure of FPGAs, we will also improve the computer programs that a designer uses to implement circuits on an FPGA. These quality of the algorithms used in these programs has a significant effect on the ability of the FPGA to implement circuitry efficiently.