An Area-Efficient Multiple-Valued Reconfigurable VLSI Architecture Using an X-Net

An X-net is employed for simplifying interconnections and switch blocks of a multiple-valued reconfigurable VLSI (MV-RVLSI). One cell composed of a logic block and a switch block is connected to four adjacent "X" intersections by four one-bit switches. A multiple-valued X-net data transfer scheme is proposed to improve the utilization of the X-net, where two binary data can be transferred from two adjacent cells to one common adjacent cell simultaneously at each "X" intersection. To evaluate the MV-RVLSIs, a sum-of-absolute-differences operation is mapped onto a previous MV-RVLSI using an 8 nearest-neighbor mesh network (8-NNM) and the MV-RVLSI using the X-net, respectively. The area of the MV-RVLSI based on the multiple-valued X-net data transfer scheme is reduced to 73% and 84%, respectively, in comparison with those of the MVRVLSI using the 8-NNM and the MV-RVLSI based on a binary X-net data transfer scheme.