REPLICA: A Bitstream Manipulation Filter for Module Relocation in Partial Reconfigurable Systems

The feature of partial reconfiguration provided by currently available Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) makes it possible to change hardware modules while others keep working. The combination of this feature and the high gate capacity enables the integration of dynamic systems that can be adapted to changing demands during runtime. Placing the dynamically changing modules along a horizontal communication infrastructure does not only provide communication facilities it also enables the relocation of pre-synthesized modules by bitstream manipulations. The exact placement of an incoming module is determined according to the current resource allocation, which results in an online placement problem. In order to prevent any extra configuration overhead for the relocation process, we developed the REPLICA (Relocation per online Configuration Alteration) filter, which is capable of performing the necessary bitstream manipulations during the regular download process. The filter architecture, a Configuration Manager and an evaluation example are presented in this paper.