Title page for ETD etd-01122004-151832

Type of Document

Master's Thesis

Author

Hendry, James Hugh

URN

etd-01122004-151832

Title

The Effects of Caching on Reconfigurable Adaptive Computing Systems

Degree

Master of Science

Department

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name	Title
Mark T. Jones	Committee Chair
James R. Armstrong	Committee Member
Peter M. Athanas	Committee Member

Keywords

Configurable Computing
FPGA
Adaptive Computing
Run-Time Reconfiguration

Date of Defense

2003-12-19

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

Adaptive computing systems have proven useful for implementing a
wide range of algorithms. A limitation of current systems is the
relatively small amount of reconfigurable hardware resources. Many
algorithms require more hardware resources than are available.
One solution to this problem is runtime reconfiguration
(RTR). Using RTR techniques, a large algorithm is implemented as a
collection of configurations for the reconfigurable hardware. These
configurations are loaded onto the reconfigurable hardware as
necessary to implement the algorithm. A primary limitation of RTR is
that the reconfiguration process is slow. Therefore, methods of
decreasing reconfiguration time are desirable.

Another method of implementing large algorithms on small hardware is
to use multiple configurable computing platforms connected via a
communication network. RTR techniques can be used in conjunction with
this method to further increase hardware availability. In this case
reconfiguration time is increased by the overhead of transmitting data
across the communication network. Methods of decreasing network
overhead are desirable.

This thesis discusses the use of caching techniques to decrease
reconfiguration time. An architecture for caching configurations is
implemented on a
configurable computing system platform. The use of caching to
decrease network overhead is discussed and exhibited. An example
application is
implemented and used to evaluate the effects of caching on
reconfiguration time and algorithm performance.

Files

Filename		Size	Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)
Filename		Size	28.8 Modem	56K Modem	ISDN (64 Kb)	ISDN (128 Kb)	Higher-speed Access
	thesis.pdf	506.23 Kb	00:02:20	00:01:12	00:01:03	00:00:31	00:00:02