Realization of self-repairing and evolvable hardware structures by means of implicit self-configuration

In this paper we shall address the physical implementation of self-repairing and evolvable hardware strategies. These alternatives will be enabled by the specific dynamic reconfiguration capabilities included in a new family of FPGA devices, called FIPSOC (Field programmable System On a Chip). The main features of these devices are given by the integration on a single chip of a dynamically reconfigurable FPGA, a programmable analog section and a microcontroller. As our experimental results will show, the efficient use of the available resources makes these devices an excellent platform for testing, developing and realizing physically new concepts in electronic design.