Apparatus, system and method for configuration of adaptive integrated circuitry having fixed, application specific computational elements
First Claim
1. A system for adaptive configuration, the system comprising:
- a first set of configuration information, the first set of configuration information including a first subset of configuration information and a second subset of configuration information;
a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture; and
an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a first functional mode of a plurality of functional modes, in response to the first subset of configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a second functional mode of the plurality of functional modes, in response to the second subset of configuration information, the first functional mode being different than the second functional mode.
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Abstract
The present invention concerns configuration of a new category of integrated circuitry for adaptive or reconfigurable computing. The preferred adaptive computing engine (ACE) IC includes a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements coupled to an interconnection network. The plurality of heterogeneous computational elements include corresponding computational elements having fixed and differing architectures, such as fixed architectures for different functions such as memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability. In response to configuration information, the interconnection network is operative to configure and reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a plurality of different functional modes, including linear algorithmic operations, non-linear algorithmic operations, finite state machine operations, controller operations, memory operations, and bit-level manipulations. The preferred system embodiment includes an ACE integrated circuit coupled with the configuration information needed to provide an operating mode. Preferred methodologies include various means to generate and provide configuration information for various operating modes.
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Citations
100 Claims
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1. A system for adaptive configuration, the system comprising:
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a first set of configuration information, the first set of configuration information including a first subset of configuration information and a second subset of configuration information;
a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture; and
an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a first functional mode of a plurality of functional modes, in response to the first subset of configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a second functional mode of the plurality of functional modes, in response to the second subset of configuration information, the first functional mode being different than the second functional mode. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for adaptive configuration, the method comprising:
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receiving a first set of configuration information, the first set of configuration information including a first subset of configuration information and a second subset of configuration information;
in response to the first subset of configuration information, configuring through an interconnection network a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a first functional mode of a plurality of functional modes, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture; and
in response to the second subset of configuration information, reconfiguring through the interconnection network the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a second functional mode of the plurality of functional modes, the first functional mode being different than the second functional mode. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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63. A method for adaptive configuration, the method comprising:
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transmitting a first set of configuration information, the first set of configuration information including a first subset of configuration information and a second subset of configuration information;
wherein when the first set of configuration information has been received, an interconnection network coupled to a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements is operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a first functional mode of a plurality of functional modes, in response to the first subset of configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a second functional mode of the plurality of functional modes, in response to the second subset of configuration information, the first functional mode being different than the second functional mode; and
wherein the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements include a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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89. An adaptive integrated circuit, comprising:
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a plurality of sets of configuration information, the plurality of sets of configuration information including a first set of configuration information and a second set of configuration information;
a plurality of reconfigurable matrices, the plurality of reconfigurable matrices including a plurality of heterogeneous computation units, each heterogeneous computation unit of the plurality of heterogeneous computation units formed from a selected configuration, of a plurality of configurations, of a plurality of fixed computational elements, the plurality of fixed computational elements including a first computational element having a first architecture and a second computational element having a second architecture, the first architecture distinct from the second architecture, the plurality of heterogeneous computation units coupled to an interconnect network and reconfigurable in response to the plurality of sets of configuration information; and
a matrix interconnection network coupled to the plurality of reconfigurable matrices, the matrix interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of reconfigurable matrices in response to the first set of configuration information for a first operating mode and to reconfigure the plurality of reconfigurable matrices in response to the second set of configuration information for a second operating mode. - View Dependent Claims (90)
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91. An adaptive integrated circuit, comprising:
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a set of configuration information, the set of configuration information including a first subset of configuration information and a second subset of configuration information;
a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture;
an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a first functional mode of a plurality of functional modes, in response to the first subset of configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a second functional mode of the plurality of functional modes, in response to the second subset of configuration information, the first functional mode being different than the second functional mode;
wherein a first subset of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements is configured for a controller operating mode, the controller operating mode including functions for directing configuration and reconfiguration of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, for selecting the first subset of configuration information and the second subset of configuration information from a singular bit stream containing data commingled with the set of configuration information, and for scheduling the configuration and reconfiguration of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements with corresponding data; and
wherein a second subset of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements is configured for a memory operating mode for storing the set of configuration information. - View Dependent Claims (92)
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93. An adaptive integrated circuit, comprising:
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a set of configuration information, the set of configuration information including a first subset of configuration information and a second subset of configuration information;
a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture of a plurality of fixed architectures, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture, and the plurality of fixed architectures including functions for memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability; and
an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a first functional mode of a plurality of functional modes, in response to the first subset of configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a second functional mode of the plurality of functional modes, in response to the second subset of configuration information, the first functional mode being different than the second functional mode, and the plurality of functional modes including linear algorithmic operations, non-linear algorithmic operations, finite state machine operations, controller operations, memory operations, and bit-level manipulations.
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94. An adaptive integrated circuit, comprising:
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configuration information;
a plurality of fixed and differing computational elements; and
an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of fixed and differing computational elements, the interconnection network operative in response to the configuration information to configure and reconfigure the plurality of fixed and differing computational elements for a plurality of functional modes. - View Dependent Claims (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100)
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Specification