A reconfigurable computer for embedded control applications

The authors present a custom computer together with a software environment for rapid implementation of algorithms on reprogrammable hardware. The custom computer is based on FPGA boards embedded in a programmable interconnection network. The transformation of an algorithmic system specification into a configuration file for the FPGAs is supported through a set of high-level and structural synthesis tools. Hardware and software are tuned, but not limited to the application domain of real-time control. The presented approach is not a push-button approach, it takes advantage of the experience of the designer at several stages to reach a near optimal solution.