An in-band reconfigurable network node based on a heterogeneous platform

This paper describes the implementation of a heterogeneous network node as a reconfigurable application based on embedded ASIC technology. The key points of the paper are the distribution of the reconfiguration data in-band over the network and the in-service-reconfiguration of the network node itself. The node consists of a static ASIC part and three reconfigurable various-grained FPGA-like areas included in one chip. The overall goal is to implement a system that can monitor an Ethernet data stream, extracts configuration data marked by the EtherType field in the Ethernet header and updates its functionality during operation time.