A framework for reconfigurable computing: task scheduling and context management-a summary

Reconfigurable computing is consolidating itself as a real alternative to ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and general-purpose processors. The main advantage of reconfigurable computing derives from its unique combination of broad applicability, provided by the reconfiguration capability, and achievable performance, through the potential parallelism exploitation. The key aspects of the scheduling problem in a reconfigurable architecture are discussed, focusing on a task scheduling methodology for DSP and multimedia applications, as well as the context management and scheduling optimizations.