Implementing an API for distributed adaptive computing systems

Many applications require the use of multiple, loosely-coupled adaptive computing boards as part of a larger computing system. Two such application classes are embedded systems in which multiple boards are required to physically interface to different sensors/actuators and applications whose computational demands require multiple boards. In addition to the adaptive computing boards, the computing systems for these application classes typically include general-purpose microprocessors and high-speed networks. The development environment for applications on these large computing systems is not unified. Typically, a developer uses VHDL simulation and synthesis tools to program the FPGAs on the adaptive computing boards. External control for the board, such as downloading new configurations or setting clock speeds, is provided through a vendor-specific API. This API is typically accessed in a C host program that the developer must write in a high-level language environment. Finally, the developer is responsible for writing the networking code that allows interaction between the separate adaptive computing boards and general-purpose microprocessors. No tools are available for either debugging or performance monitoring in this agglomerated system. Development on these systems is time-consuming and platform-specific. A standard ACS API is proposed to provide a developer with a single API for the control of a distributed system of adaptive computing boards, including the interconnection network.