The design and implementation of a context switching FPGA

Dynamic reconfiguration of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) has recently emerged as the next step in reconfigurable computing. Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company, is developing the enabling technology to exploit dynamic reconfiguration. The device being developed is capable of storing four configurations on-chip and switching between them on a clock cycle basis. Configurations can be loaded while other contexts are active. A powerful cross-context data sharing mechanism has been implemented. The current status of this work and future work are described.