Implementation and Research on EHW-based Digital Chip Using Handel-C Language

When conventional electronic design automation (EDA) technology is used to design digital chip, there are many stubborn difficulties such as being unable to automatically repair if hardware malfunctions, being lack of adaptation etc. However, evolvable hardware (EHW) can adapt to different environment and enhance its performance since it is capable of self-organization, self- adaptation and self-repair. Handel-C Language, having its origin in ISO/ANSI-C programming language, as well as lots of reusable routine C programs, can execute on field programmable gate array (FPGA), so, in a very real sense, hardware implementation is performed completely by means of software. The present paper selects six-multiplexor as the target circuit, and the digital chip with evolutionary function is successfully implemented. Also, an approach to design digital chip with the ability to automatically repair is presented, and some key problems in the process of hardware implementation are solved. The simulated experiment verifies that the presented approach has great evolutionary efficiency and the designed chip has to some degree the ability of self-repair.