Modelagem e simulação de sistemas dinamicamente reconfiguráveis em granularidades diversas.

Abstract

An innovative methodology to model and simulate partial and dynamic reconfiguration is presented in this work. As dynamic reconfiguration can be seen as the remove and reinsertion of modules into the system, the presented methodology is based on the execution blocking of not configured modules during the simulation, without interfere on the normal system activity. Once the simulator provides the possibility to remove, insert and exchange modules during simulation, all systems modeled on this simulator can have the benefit of the dynamic reconfigurations. In order to prove the concept, modifications on the SystemC kernel were developed, adding new instructions to remove and reconfigure modules at simulation time, enabling the simulator to be used either at transaction level (TLM) or at register transfer level (RTL). At TLM it allows the modeling and simulation of higher-level hardware and embedded software, while at RTL the dynamic system behavior can be observed at signals level. At the same time all the abstraction levels can be modeled and simulated, all system granularity can also be considered. At the end, every system able to be simulated using SystemC can also has your behavior changed on run-time. The provided set of instructions decreases the design cycle time. Compared with traditional strategies, information about dynamic and adaptive behavior will be available at earlier stages. Three different applications were developed using the methodology at different abstract levels and granularities. Considerations about the decision on how to apply dynamic reconfiguration in the better way are also made. The acquired results assist the designers on choosing the best cost/benefit tradeoff in terms of chip area and reconfiguration delay.