High-level language extensions for run-time reconfigurable systems

This paper presents high-level language extensions for designs that can be reconfigured at run time. Such extensions provide a unified framework for instantiating and controlling reconfigurable hardware blocks. Our frame-work involves capturing functional blocks at the task level, with language constructs for describing run-time reconfigurable tasks, and dynamic datatypes for describing run-time parametrisable designs. Two compilation paths, one involving the Handel-C system and the other involving the RT Pebble tools, have been developed. The effectiveness of our approach has been evaluated using designs for shape-adaptive template matching and network firewall.