Distributing C# methods and threads over Ethernet-connected FPGAs using Kiwi

The Kiwi system achieves co-design by allowing nominated regions of C# programs to be targeted at FPGAs while the remainder executes on unmodified .NET and Mono virtual machines. Using C# attributes, certain methods are identified for separate compilation and collections of methods are mapped to multiple FPGAs or to workstations connected to a common Ethernet switch. Individual methods become RPC-callable entities for the top-level C# thread running on one workstation, while server threads may run continually on other workstations or FPGAs. We illustrate the concept using minimal modifications to an Adobe Photoshop plug-in where the processing for each colour channel is farmed over the Ethernet to one or three remote entities which may each be either an FPGA or a workstation.