A multi-layered XML schema and design tool for reusing and integrating FPGA IP

Reconfigurable computing systems remain difficult to use and program. One way to increase design productivity for these systems is through reuse of previously developed and verified intellectual property (IP) cores. This paper presents CHREC XML, a XML schema that facilitates IP reuse by encapsulating the details of reusable IP cores at multiple levels of abstraction. This schema is independent from any design language or tool and can be used by any tool to understand many details about the interface of a reusable circuit. An IP integration tool was also created based on this schema to demonstrate the ease of IP reuse when cores are described in this meta-data description. This IP integration tool allows a designer to easily select and integrate IP cores from a variety of languages/tools and automatically run the appropriate tools to generate the cores in a form usable by downstream implementation tools.