Caronte: A methodology for the Implementation of Partially dynamically Self-Reconfiguring Systems on FPGA Platforms

This paper aims at introducing a complete methodology that allows to easily implement on an fpga a system specification by exploit- ing the capabilities of partial dynamic reconfiguration provided by the modern boards. In the resulting system, which includes a set of fixed components (such as a processor and a controller) as well as some re- configurable area (which can be allotted to different tasks running con- currently and replaced independently of one another — thus possibly hiding reconfiguration times), reconfiguration is handled internally by the system, without the use of external hardware. In order to meet the software requirements of complex systems, the solution is provided with a porting of a real–time gnu/Linux os, μCLinux, which allows software processes to exploit a rich set of features, and with a Linux module that simplifies and enhances the handling of reconfiguration.