Computer Architecture bayed on Autonomous Reconfigurable Logic Device

本项目探索了基于自主可重构逻辑器件的体系结构和应用，以促进可重构计算系统的实现。塑料单元体系结构(Plastic Cell Architecture，PCA)是可编程逻辑器件的扩展之一，具有以下特点：电路之间的异步协作；对象之间的流水线通信；同构、可重定位和可扩展的单元阵列；逻辑和存储器的统一；以及自身的动态重构。为了实现上述特征，提出了一种由两层组成的体系结构，称为塑料部分和内置部分。塑料部件作为可编程逻辑器件或存储器工作。内置部件用于对象之间的通信、对存储器的访问以及塑料部件的重新配置。通过对象的异步流水线通信，PCA的工作速度有望更快，而传统PLD中实现的电路由于全局互连的延迟而被认为很难加速时钟周期。此外，由于其独特的体系结构和可重构的灵活性，PCA有望成为可重构计算的关键设备。为了促进这种计算系统的实现，我们从以下几个方面进行了探索：(1)PCA设备的体系结构设计、物理设计和VLSI实现；(2)PCA设备中用于实现目标功能的设计方法、设计语言、计算机辅助设计工具、仿真器和库；(3)PCA设备中用于动态重构的硬件资源管理方法；(4)PCA在图像编解码、音频编解码和通信领域的应用。

In this project, architecture and applications based on autonomous reconfigurable logic devices has been explored in order to facilitate reconfigurable computing systems.Plastic Cell Architecture (PCA) is proposed as one of extensions of programmable logic devices with the unique characteristics as follows ; asynchronous cooperation of circuits referred to as objects; pipelined communication between objects ; array of homogeneous, relocatable, and expandable cells; unification of logic and memory; and dynamic reconfiguration by itself.In order to realize above characteristics, an architecture which consists of two layers is proposed referred to as a plastic part and a built-in part. The plastic part works as a programmable logic device or a memory. The built-in part works for communications between objects, access to memories, and reconfiguration of the plastic part. PCA is expected to work faster by asynchronous pipelined communication of objects, while it is considered to be difficult to accelerate the clock cycle of a circuit implemented in conventional PLDs because of the delay of global interconnections. Furthermore, PCA is expected to be a key device for reconfigurable computing by virtue of its unique architecture and flexibility in reconfiguration.In order to facilitate such a computing system, we have explored the followings ; (1) architectural design, physical design, and VLSI implementation of PCA device ; (2) design methodology, design language, computer aided design tools, simulators, and libraries for implementation of target functions in the PCA device ; (3) methodology to manage hardware resources for dynamic reconfiguration in PCA device ; (4) applications of PCA in the field of image codec, audio codec, and communications.