Overview of Reconfigurable Architectures

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the main features of reconfigurable architectures and systems, focusing on reconfigurable fabrics, the underlying vehicle for reconfigurable computing. We begin with a short historical perspective followed by a description and categorization of reconfigurable architectural features, such as their granularity, interconnection topologies, and system-level integration. We describe dynamic reconfigurable features some architectures exhibit as well as the execution models these architectures preferentially expose. Throughout this chapter we illustrate specific architectural features using representative examples of commercial and academic reconfigurable architectures, but without aiming to survey all the efforts on reconfigurable computing architectures.