As a result of increased logic capacity, reconfigurable logic devices, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), have become increasingly important components in many digital systems. The programmable structure of these devices offer designers the opportunity to quickly map parallel designs to silicon while customizing circuitry to exactly the functionality desired. The successful use of this circuitry relies heavily on design mapping flows of intricate and complex computer-aided design tools and compilers. As the programming models used by designers to target reconfigurable logic devices become more diverse, the need to optimize tools both individually and jointly becomes more important. It is widely recognized that researchers in this reconfigurable computing field will require easy access to representative tool sets, documentation describing how to combine them into mapping flows, and a collection of representative benchmarks in the near future to sustain research progress.
The need for greater accessibility to freely-available reconfigurable computing CAD tools forms the cornerstone of this proposal. Upon completion of the project, designers will have access to a well-organized repository of documented tools and compilers including documentation on how to coordinate multiple tools together into complete design mapping flows. This infrastructure will allow researchers to optimize existing tools for new design goals and develop new, more advanced tools which use the current infrastructure as a basis. All resources in the infrastructure will be hosted in web-based repositories at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Funding for this project will be used to acquire needed computer hardware and web-based resource distribution materials, and to support graduate student researchers who will organize the infrastructure. Upon completion, the infrastructure will be made publicly-available and will be widely publicized to researchers in a variety of research fields.
This proposal outlines a series of development steps to achieve this goal including the acquisition of existing CAD tools and compilers, the construction of a web-based infrastructure, the integration of the individual tools into a series of end-to-end mapping flows, and the development of an infrastructure deployment strategy. The proposed development work is closely tied to learning opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. These students will have the opportunity to become familiar with state-of-the-art design tools and advanced web-design and database building techniques. Preliminary contact with researchers in both academic and commercial settings has indicated strong interest. It is expected that as the project progresses external parties will assist in offering technical direction and support in terms of CAD tools and benchmarks. As the project nears completion, a consortium of academic and industry partners will be solicited to continue support for the infrastructure.
