---
_id: '2404'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: ' In this thesis, we propose to use a reconfigurable processor as main computation
element in embedded systems for applications from the multi-media and communications
domain. A reconfigurable processor integrates an embedded CPU core with a Reconfigurable
Processing Unit (RPU). Many of our target applications require real-time signal-processing
of data streams and expose a high computational demand. The key challenge in designing
embedded systems for these applications is to find an implementation that satisfies
the performance goals and is adaptable to new applications, while the system cost
is minimized. Implementations that solely use an embedded CPU are likely to miss
the performance goals. Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)-based coprocessors
can be used for some high-volume products with fixed functions, but fall short
for systems with varying applications. We argue that a reconfigurable processor
with a coarse-grained, dynamically reconfigurable array of modest size provides
an attractive implementation platform for our application domain. The computational
intensive application kernels are executed on the RPU, while the remaining parts
of the application are executed on the CPU. Reconfigurable hardware allows for
implementing application specific coprocessors with a high performance, while
the function of the coprocessor can still be adapted due to the programmability.
So far, reconfigurable technology is used in embedded systems primarily with static
configurations, e.g., for implementing glue-logic, replacing ASICs, and for implementing
fixed-function coprocessors. Changing the configuration at runtime enables a number
of interesting application modes, e.g., on-demand loading of coprocessors and
time-multiplexed execution of coprocessors, which is commonly denoted as hardware
virtualization. While the use of static configurations is well understood and
supported by design-tools, the role of dynamic reconfiguration is not well investigated
yet. Current application specification methods and design-tools do not provide
an end-to-end tool-flow that considers dynamic reconfiguration. A key idea of
our approach is to reduce system cost by keeping the size of the reconfigurable
array small and to use hardware virtualization techniques to compensate for the
limited hardware resources. The main contribution of this thesis is the codesign
of a reconfigurable processor architecture named ZIPPY, the corresponding hardware
and software implementation tools, and an application specification model which
explicitly considers hardware virtualization. The ZIPPY architecture is widely
parametrized and allows for specifying a whole family of processor architectures.
The implementation tools are also parametrized and can target any architectural
variant. We evaluate the performance of the architecture with a system-level,
cycle-accurate cosimulation framework. This framework enables us to perform design-space
exploration for a variety of reconfigurable processor architectures. With two
case studies, we demonstrate, that hardware virtualization on the Zippy architecture
is feasible and enables us to trade-off performance for area in embedded systems.
Finally, we present a novel method for optimal temporal partitioning of sequential
circuits, which is an important form of hardware virtualization. The method based
on Slowdown and Retiming allows us to decompose any sequential circuit into a
number of smaller, communicating subcircuits that can be executed on a dynamically
reconfigurable architecture. '
author:
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Plessl, Christian
id: '16153'
last_name: Plessl
orcid: 0000-0001-5728-9982
citation:
ama: 'Plessl C. Hardware Virtualization on a Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Processor.
Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag; 2006. doi:10.2370/9783832255619'
apa: 'Plessl, C. (2006). Hardware virtualization on a coarse-grained reconfigurable
processor. Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag. https://doi.org/10.2370/9783832255619'
bibtex: '@book{Plessl_2006, place={Aachen, Germany}, series={Technische Informatik},
title={Hardware virtualization on a coarse-grained reconfigurable processor},
DOI={10.2370/9783832255619},
publisher={Shaker Verlag}, author={Plessl, Christian}, year={2006}, collection={Technische
Informatik} }'
chicago: 'Plessl, Christian. Hardware Virtualization on a Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable
Processor. Technische Informatik. Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag, 2006. https://doi.org/10.2370/9783832255619.'
ieee: 'C. Plessl, Hardware virtualization on a coarse-grained reconfigurable
processor. Aachen, Germany: Shaker Verlag, 2006.'
mla: Plessl, Christian. Hardware Virtualization on a Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable
Processor. Shaker Verlag, 2006, doi:10.2370/9783832255619.
short: C. Plessl, Hardware Virtualization on a Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Processor,
Shaker Verlag, Aachen, Germany, 2006.
date_created: 2018-04-17T13:46:27Z
date_updated: 2022-01-06T06:56:06Z
department:
- _id: '518'
doi: 10.2370/9783832255619
keyword:
- Zippy
place: Aachen, Germany
publication_identifier:
isbn:
- 978-3-8322-5561-3
publisher: Shaker Verlag
series_title: Technische Informatik
status: public
title: Hardware virtualization on a coarse-grained reconfigurable processor
type: dissertation
user_id: '24135'
year: '2006'
...
---
_id: '2411'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: ' This paper motivates the use of hardware virtualization on coarse-grained
reconfigurable architectures. We introduce Zippy, a coarse-grained multi-context
hybrid CPU with architectural support for efficient hardware virtualization. The
architectural details and the corresponding tool flow are outlined. As a case
study, we compare the non-virtualized and the virtualized execution of an ADPCM
decoder. '
author:
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Plessl, Christian
id: '16153'
last_name: Plessl
orcid: 0000-0001-5728-9982
- first_name: Marco
full_name: Platzner, Marco
id: '398'
last_name: Platzner
citation:
ama: 'Plessl C, Platzner M. Zippy – A coarse-grained reconfigurable array with support
for hardware virtualization. In: Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific Systems,
Architectures, and Processors (ASAP). IEEE Computer Society; 2005:213-218.
doi:10.1109/ASAP.2005.69'
apa: Plessl, C., & Platzner, M. (2005). Zippy – A coarse-grained reconfigurable
array with support for hardware virtualization. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific
Systems, Architectures, and Processors (ASAP) (pp. 213–218). IEEE Computer
Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/ASAP.2005.69
bibtex: '@inproceedings{Plessl_Platzner_2005, title={Zippy – A coarse-grained reconfigurable
array with support for hardware virtualization}, DOI={10.1109/ASAP.2005.69},
booktitle={Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific Systems, Architectures, and
Processors (ASAP)}, publisher={IEEE Computer Society}, author={Plessl, Christian
and Platzner, Marco}, year={2005}, pages={213–218} }'
chicago: Plessl, Christian, and Marco Platzner. “Zippy – A Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable
Array with Support for Hardware Virtualization.” In Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific
Systems, Architectures, and Processors (ASAP), 213–18. IEEE Computer Society,
2005. https://doi.org/10.1109/ASAP.2005.69.
ieee: C. Plessl and M. Platzner, “Zippy – A coarse-grained reconfigurable array
with support for hardware virtualization,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific
Systems, Architectures, and Processors (ASAP), 2005, pp. 213–218.
mla: Plessl, Christian, and Marco Platzner. “Zippy – A Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable
Array with Support for Hardware Virtualization.” Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific
Systems, Architectures, and Processors (ASAP), IEEE Computer Society, 2005,
pp. 213–18, doi:10.1109/ASAP.2005.69.
short: 'C. Plessl, M. Platzner, in: Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific Systems,
Architectures, and Processors (ASAP), IEEE Computer Society, 2005, pp. 213–218.'
date_created: 2018-04-17T14:34:03Z
date_updated: 2022-01-06T06:56:07Z
department:
- _id: '518'
- _id: '78'
doi: 10.1109/ASAP.2005.69
keyword:
- Zippy
page: 213-218
publication: Proc. Int. Conf. on Application-Specific Systems, Architectures, and
Processors (ASAP)
publisher: IEEE Computer Society
status: public
title: Zippy – A coarse-grained reconfigurable array with support for hardware virtualization
type: conference
user_id: '24135'
year: '2005'
...
---
_id: '2412'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: ' Reconfigurable architectures that tightly integrate a standard CPU core
with a field-programmable hardware structure have recently been receiving impact
of these design decisions on the overall system performance is a challenging task.
In this paper, we first present a framework for the cycle-accurate performance
evaluation of hybrid reconfigurable processors on the system level. Then, we discuss
a reconfigurable processor for data-streaming applications, which attaches a coarse-grained
reconfigurable unit to the coprocessor interface of a standard embedded CPU core.
By means of a case study we evaluate the system-level impact of certain design
features for the reconfigurable unit, such as multiple contexts, register replication,
and hardware context scheduling. The results illustrate that a system-level evaluation
framework is of paramount importance for studying the architectural trade-offs
and optimizing design parameters for reconfigurable processors.'
author:
- first_name: Rolf
full_name: Enzler, Rolf
last_name: Enzler
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Plessl, Christian
id: '16153'
last_name: Plessl
orcid: 0000-0001-5728-9982
- first_name: Marco
full_name: Platzner, Marco
id: '398'
last_name: Platzner
citation:
ama: Enzler R, Plessl C, Platzner M. System-level performance evaluation of reconfigurable
processors. Microprocessors and Microsystems. 2005;29(2-3):63-73. doi:10.1016/j.micpro.2004.06.004
apa: Enzler, R., Plessl, C., & Platzner, M. (2005). System-level performance
evaluation of reconfigurable processors. Microprocessors and Microsystems,
29(2–3), 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpro.2004.06.004
bibtex: '@article{Enzler_Plessl_Platzner_2005, title={System-level performance evaluation
of reconfigurable processors}, volume={29}, DOI={10.1016/j.micpro.2004.06.004},
number={2–3}, journal={Microprocessors and Microsystems}, publisher={Elsevier},
author={Enzler, Rolf and Plessl, Christian and Platzner, Marco}, year={2005},
pages={63–73} }'
chicago: 'Enzler, Rolf, Christian Plessl, and Marco Platzner. “System-Level Performance
Evaluation of Reconfigurable Processors.” Microprocessors and Microsystems
29, no. 2–3 (2005): 63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpro.2004.06.004.'
ieee: R. Enzler, C. Plessl, and M. Platzner, “System-level performance evaluation
of reconfigurable processors,” Microprocessors and Microsystems, vol. 29,
no. 2–3, pp. 63–73, 2005.
mla: Enzler, Rolf, et al. “System-Level Performance Evaluation of Reconfigurable
Processors.” Microprocessors and Microsystems, vol. 29, no. 2–3, Elsevier,
2005, pp. 63–73, doi:10.1016/j.micpro.2004.06.004.
short: R. Enzler, C. Plessl, M. Platzner, Microprocessors and Microsystems 29 (2005)
63–73.
date_created: 2018-04-17T14:36:10Z
date_updated: 2022-01-06T06:56:07Z
department:
- _id: '518'
- _id: '78'
doi: 10.1016/j.micpro.2004.06.004
intvolume: ' 29'
issue: 2-3
keyword:
- FPGA
- reconfigurable computing
- co-simulation
- Zippy
page: 63-73
publication: Microprocessors and Microsystems
publisher: Elsevier
status: public
title: System-level performance evaluation of reconfigurable processors
type: journal_article
user_id: '24135'
volume: 29
year: '2005'
...
---
_id: '2421'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: In contrast to processors, current reconfigurable devices totally lack programming
models that would allow for device independent compilation and forward compatibility.
The key to overcome this limitation is hardware virtualization. In this paper,
we resort to a macro-pipelined execution model to achieve hardware virtualization
for data streaming applications. As a hardware implementation we present a hybrid
multi-context architecture that attaches a coarse-grained reconfigurable array
to a host CPU. A co-simulation framework enables cycle-accurate simulation of
the complete architecture. As a case study we map an FIR filter to our virtualized
hardware model and evaluate different designs. We discuss the impact of the number
of contexts and the feature of context state on the speedup and the CPU load.
author:
- first_name: Rolf
full_name: Enzler, Rolf
last_name: Enzler
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Plessl, Christian
id: '16153'
last_name: Plessl
orcid: 0000-0001-5728-9982
- first_name: Marco
full_name: Platzner, Marco
id: '398'
last_name: Platzner
citation:
ama: 'Enzler R, Plessl C, Platzner M. Virtualizing Hardware with Multi-Context Reconfigurable
Arrays. In: Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL).
Vol 2778. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). Springer; 2003:151-160. doi:10.1007/b12007'
apa: Enzler, R., Plessl, C., & Platzner, M. (2003). Virtualizing Hardware with
Multi-Context Reconfigurable Arrays. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable
Logic and Applications (FPL) (Vol. 2778, pp. 151–160). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/b12007
bibtex: '@inproceedings{Enzler_Plessl_Platzner_2003, series={Lecture Notes in Computer
Science (LNCS)}, title={Virtualizing Hardware with Multi-Context Reconfigurable
Arrays}, volume={2778}, DOI={10.1007/b12007},
booktitle={Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL)},
publisher={Springer}, author={Enzler, Rolf and Plessl, Christian and Platzner,
Marco}, year={2003}, pages={151–160}, collection={Lecture Notes in Computer Science
(LNCS)} }'
chicago: Enzler, Rolf, Christian Plessl, and Marco Platzner. “Virtualizing Hardware
with Multi-Context Reconfigurable Arrays.” In Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable
Logic and Applications (FPL), 2778:151–60. Lecture Notes in Computer Science
(LNCS). Springer, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1007/b12007.
ieee: R. Enzler, C. Plessl, and M. Platzner, “Virtualizing Hardware with Multi-Context
Reconfigurable Arrays,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable Logic and
Applications (FPL), 2003, vol. 2778, pp. 151–160.
mla: Enzler, Rolf, et al. “Virtualizing Hardware with Multi-Context Reconfigurable
Arrays.” Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL),
vol. 2778, Springer, 2003, pp. 151–60, doi:10.1007/b12007.
short: 'R. Enzler, C. Plessl, M. Platzner, in: Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable
Logic and Applications (FPL), Springer, 2003, pp. 151–160.'
date_created: 2018-04-17T15:11:25Z
date_updated: 2022-01-06T06:56:13Z
department:
- _id: '518'
- _id: '78'
doi: 10.1007/b12007
intvolume: ' 2778'
keyword:
- Zippy
- multi-context
- FPGA
page: 151-160
publication: Proc. Int. Conf. on Field Programmable Logic and Applications (FPL)
publisher: Springer
series_title: Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)
status: public
title: Virtualizing Hardware with Multi-Context Reconfigurable Arrays
type: conference
user_id: '24135'
volume: 2778
year: '2003'
...
---
_id: '2422'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Reconfigurable computing architectures aim to dynamically adapt their hardware
to the application at hand. As research shows, the time it takes to reconfigure
the hardware forms an overhead that can significantly impair the benefits of hardware
customization. Multi-context devices are one promising approach to overcome the
limitations posed by long reconfiguration times. In contrast to more traditional
reconfigurable architectures, multi-context devices hold several configurations
on-chip. On demand, the device can quickly switch to another context. In this
paper we present a co-simulation environment to investigate design trade-offs
for hybrid multi-context architectures. Our architectural model comprises a reconfigurable
unit closely coupled to a CPU core. As a case study, we discuss the implementation
of a FIR filter partitioned into several contexts. We outline the mapping process
and present simulation results for single- and multi-context reconfigurable units
coupled with both embedded and high-end CPUs.
author:
- first_name: Rolf
full_name: Enzler, Rolf
last_name: Enzler
- first_name: Christian
full_name: Plessl, Christian
id: '16153'
last_name: Plessl
orcid: 0000-0001-5728-9982
- first_name: Marco
full_name: Platzner, Marco
id: '398'
last_name: Platzner
citation:
ama: 'Enzler R, Plessl C, Platzner M. Co-simulation of a Hybrid Multi-Context Architecture.
In: Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable Systems and Algorithms
(ERSA). CSREA Press; 2003:174-180.'
apa: Enzler, R., Plessl, C., & Platzner, M. (2003). Co-simulation of a Hybrid
Multi-Context Architecture. In Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable
Systems and Algorithms (ERSA) (pp. 174–180). CSREA Press.
bibtex: '@inproceedings{Enzler_Plessl_Platzner_2003, title={Co-simulation of a Hybrid
Multi-Context Architecture}, booktitle={Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable
Systems and Algorithms (ERSA)}, publisher={CSREA Press}, author={Enzler, Rolf
and Plessl, Christian and Platzner, Marco}, year={2003}, pages={174–180} }'
chicago: Enzler, Rolf, Christian Plessl, and Marco Platzner. “Co-Simulation of a
Hybrid Multi-Context Architecture.” In Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable
Systems and Algorithms (ERSA), 174–80. CSREA Press, 2003.
ieee: R. Enzler, C. Plessl, and M. Platzner, “Co-simulation of a Hybrid Multi-Context
Architecture,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable Systems
and Algorithms (ERSA), 2003, pp. 174–180.
mla: Enzler, Rolf, et al. “Co-Simulation of a Hybrid Multi-Context Architecture.”
Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable Systems and Algorithms (ERSA),
CSREA Press, 2003, pp. 174–80.
short: 'R. Enzler, C. Plessl, M. Platzner, in: Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of
Reconfigurable Systems and Algorithms (ERSA), CSREA Press, 2003, pp. 174–180.'
date_created: 2018-04-17T15:12:56Z
date_updated: 2022-01-06T06:56:13Z
department:
- _id: '518'
- _id: '78'
keyword:
- Zippy
- co-simulation
page: 174-180
publication: Proc. Int. Conf. on Engineering of Reconfigurable Systems and Algorithms
(ERSA)
publication_identifier:
isbn:
- 1-932415-05-X
publisher: CSREA Press
status: public
title: Co-simulation of a Hybrid Multi-Context Architecture
type: conference
user_id: '24135'
year: '2003'
...