Adaptive FPGAs: High-Level Architecture and a Synthesis Method

This paper presents preliminary work exploring adaptive field programmable gate arrays (AFPGAs). An AFPGA is adaptive in the sense that the functionality of subcircuits placed on the chip can change in response to changes observed on certain control signals. We describe the high-level architecture which adds additional control logic and SRAM bits to a traditional FPGA to produce an AFPGA. We also describe a synthesis method that identifies and resynthesizes mutually exclusive pieces of logic so that they may share the resources available in an AFPGA. The architectural feature and its associated synthesis method helps reduce circuit size by 28% on average and up to 40% on select circuits