Evolvable hardware using context switchable fuzzy inference processor

To achieve real-time performance for some applications of fuzzy systems it is necessary to realise the inference module in hardware. By the same token, real-time applications of evolvable fuzzy hardware systems require the realisation of systems as hardware that can be conveniently reconfigured. A good example of such a scenario is illustrated for the case of asynchronous transfer mode cell scheduling. Since the domain rule-set is expected to evolve during normal operation, it is imperative that the hardware supporting the fuzzy reasoning should be easily reconfigurable. To address this requirement a reconfigurable fuzzy inference chip (RFIC) is described that supports online rule-set reconfigurability. The overall methodology of designing evolvable fuzzy hardware systems based on an RFIC as the core inference processor is presented. The RFIC is an in-system context-switchable inference processor for evolvable fuzzy hardware. Hardware architectural details of the RFIC are presented and its performance simulated to verify its functionality and applicability.