Physical support for evolution in reconfigurable devices

Summary form only given. In recent years, there have been several architectures introduced specifically with hardware evolution in mind. In addition to these devices, many research and commercial chips have emerged that, while not specifically designed for evolution nor even considered as evolvable hardware, possess the properties considered essential for evolvable systems. There are a minimum set of properties that must be supported required for hardware evolution to occur in an autonomous embedded environment. A device deemed evolvable typically supports one or more of the following properties: (i) having an architecture that is flexible and conducive to a wide variety of solutions in a given problem domain, (ii) having the ability to assess its own behavior and compare it with a standard, (iii) having the ability to deduce circuit modifications, and (iv) having the architectural support to modify the functionality of the hardware (on-line). This talk will explore contemporary commodity and research-grade single-chip devices that were not designed with evolution in mind, yet provide, at minimum, the foundation for evolution. Illustrative examples will be given when possible.