Modeling, analysis and exploration of layers: A 3D computing architecture

A new layered reconfigurable architecture is proposed which exploits modularity, scalability and flexibility to achieve high energy efficiency and memory bandwidth. Functional Reconfiguration theoretical concepts are proposed to describe this kind of architectures, based on concepts from functional programming theory. A high-level design methodology is adapted and modified to allow easy design, testing and simulation. The architectural concepts are tested on an application domain and several tools are created to partially automate application mapping flow and system integration. Moreover, due to its inherent 3D structure of the proposed architecture, physical implementation into 3D silicon is attempted.