Demonstration of an in-band reconfiguration data distribution and network node reconfiguration

This paper describes the implementation of an FPGA prototype of an application based on embedded ASIC technology. The overall goal is to implement a system that can monitor an Ethernet data stream and extracts configuration data marked by the EtherType field in the Ethernet header. For evaluation the application is implemented on a prototype consisting of two XILINX FPGA boards. Since the target platform is an ASIC with embedded reconfigurable architectures the prototype is divided in the corresponding parts. One board emulates the embedded reconfigurable architecture that contains the Ethernet MAC. Ethernet packets can reconfigure this MAC. The second board emulates the static part of the application that controls the reconfiguration process.