Reconfigurable computing (RC) is rapidly becoming a vital technology for many applications, from high-performance computing to embedded systems. The inherent advantages of custom-logic hardware devices, such as the FPGA, combined with the versatility of software-driven hardware configuration often boost performance while reducing power consumption. However, compared to software design tools, the relatively immature state of RC design tools significantly limits productivity and consequently limits widespread adoption of RC. Long and tedious designtranslate-execute (DTE) processes for RC applications (e.g., using RTL through HDL) must be repeated in order to meet mission requirements. Novel methods for rapid virtual prototyping and performance prediction can reduce DTE repetitions by providing fast and accurate tradeoff analysis before the design stage. This paper presents a novel core-level modeling and design (CMD) framework for RC algorithms to support fast, accurate and early design...
Gongyu Wang, Greg Stitt, Herman Lam, Alan D. Georg