Parallel processing architectures for reconfigurable systems

Novel reconfigurable computing architectures exploit the inherent parallelism available in many signal-processing problems. These architectures often consist of networks of compute elements that have an ALU-like structure with corresponding instructions. This opens opportunities for rapid dynamic reconfiguration and instruction multiplexing. The field of computer architectures has significantly contributed to the systematic and quantified exploration of architectures. Novel reconfigurable architecture exploration should learn from this approach. Future System-on-a-Chip platforms will consist of a combination of processor architectures, on-chip memories, and reconfigurable architectures. The real challenge is to design those architectures that can be programmed efficiently. This requires that first a programming environment and benchmarks be created and then that the reconfigurable architectures be systematically explored.