A stream register file unit for reconfigurable processors

This paper presents a local buffer memory in the form of a stream register file (SRF) that was developed in order to connect, in a compiler-friendly pattern, large-bandwidth run-time configurable logic units in processor-based SOCs. The proposed SRF offers to the host SOC system performance speedups in the range of 4times, with area/power overhead in the order of 6%. The described hardware and algorithm mapping strategy was implemented on silicon in a SOC based on the PiCoGA reconfigurable architecture. The SOC provides an average 450 MOPS (mega operations per Second) in STM CMOS090 technology running at 100MHZ