Systems and methods for interconnection of multiple FPGA devices

• US 7,444,454 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2004
• Issued: 10/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lionra Technologies Limited (Atlantic IP Services Limited)
• Original Assignee: L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yancey, Jerry W., Kuo, Yea Z.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dang; Khanh
• Assistant Examiner(s): DALEY, CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY
• Application Number:
  US10/843,226
• Publication Number:
  US 20050256969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,631 Days
• Field of Search: 710/316, 710/312, 709/238, 326/39, 326/41
• US Class Current: 710/312
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4256 using a clocked protocol

Abstract

Application Specific Integrated Circuit (“ASIC”) devices, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (“FPGAs”), may be interconnected using serial I/O connections, such as high speed multi-gigabit serial transceiver (“MGT”) connections. For example, serial I/O connections may be employed to interconnect a pair of ASICs to create a high bandwidth, low signal count connection, and in a manner so that any given pair of multiple ASIC devices on a single circuit card may communicate with each other through no more than one serial data communication link connection step. A reconfigurable hardware architecture (“RHA”) may be configured to include a communications infrastructure that uses a high-bandwidth packet router to establish standard communications protocols between multiple interfaces and/or multiple devices that may be present on a single circuit card. Additionally, a communications infrastructure may be established across multiple circuit cards.

Claims

1. An ASIC array, comprising:

three or more ASIC devices, each of said ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices and having at least a first serial connection and a second serial connection;

wherein a first serial connection of a first one of said three or more ASIC devices is coupled to a first serial connection of a second one of said ASIC devices with no other serial connection therebetween to form a first serial data communication link;

wherein a second serial connection of said first one of said three or more ASIC devices is coupled to a first serial connection of a third one of said three or more other ASIC devices with no other serial connection therebetween to form a second serial data communication link; and

wherein a second serial connection of said second one of said three or more ASIC devices is coupled to a second serial connection of said third one of said three or more ASIC devices with no other serial connection therebetween to form a third serial data communication link;

wherein each of said first, second and third serial data communication links comprise duplex serial data communication links; and

wherein said three or more ASIC devices of said ASIC array are configured to bi-directionally transfer data packets across each of said first, second and third duplex serial data communication links such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said first, second and third duplex serial data communication links during transfer of said data packet across said given one of said first, second and third duplex serial data communication links.

2. The array of claim 1, wherein each of said ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices;

and wherein each of said serial connections comprises a multi-gigabit serial transceiver (“

MGT”

) connection.

3. The array of claim 2, further comprising a fourth FPGA device that is separate chip from said other FPGA devices, said fourth FPGA device comprising at least first, second, and third MGT connections;

wherein each of said first, second and third FPGA devices further comprises a third MGT connection;

wherein said third serial connection of said first one of said FPGA devices is coupled to said first serial connection of said fourth one of said FPGA devices with no other serial connection therebetween to form a fourth duplex data communication link;

wherein said third serial connection of said second one of said FPGA devices is coupled to said second serial connection of said fourth one of said FPGA devices with no other serial connection therebetween to form a fifth duplex data communication link; and

wherein said third serial connection of said third one of said FPGA devices is coupled to said third serial connection of said fourth one of said FPGA devices with no other serial connection therebetween to form a sixth duplex data communication link, wherein said four ASIC devices of said ASIC array are further configured to distribute data, command, control and status information across each of said first, second, third and fourth duplex data communication links.

4. The array of claim 1, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations, at least one of said reader interfaces and at least one of said writer interfaces being coupled to each of said first and second serial connections of said respective ASIC wherein said packet router of each respective ASIC device is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a first data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said first data packet and to transmit said first data packet from at least one of said writer interfaces of said packet router of each respective ASIC device to one of said first and second serial connections of the same respective ASIC device based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said first data packet.

5. The array of claim 4, wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective ASIC devices is configured to process requests for transfer of packets to each of said first and second serial connections of said respective ASIC device based on priority.

6. The array of claim 4, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one embedded module contained entirely within said respective ASIC device and separate from said packet router of said respective ASIC device;

wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective ASIC devices has at least one reader interface and at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one embedded module; and

wherein said packet router of each respective ASIC device is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a second data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said second data packet and to transmit said second data packet from at least one writer interface of said packet router of each respective ASIC device to said at least one embedded module of the same respective ASIC device based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said second data packet.

7. The array of claim 6, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices comprises a FPGA device;

and wherein said at least one embedded module of each of said respective three or more FPGA devices comprises at least one of a user-defined hardware module, an external interface module, an embedded processor module, or any combination thereof.

8. The array of claim 7, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one external interface;

and wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective FPGA devices has at least one reader interface and at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one external interface; and

wherein said packet router of each respective ASIC device is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a third data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said second data packet and to transmit said third data packet from said at least one writer interface of said packet router of each respective ASIC device to said at least one external interface of the same respective ASIC device based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said third data packet.

9. The array of claim 4, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one external interface;

and wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective ASIC devices has at least one reader interface and at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one external interface; and

wherein said packet router of each respective ASIC device is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a second data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said second data packet and to transmit said second data packet from said at least one writer interface of said packet router of each respective ASIC device to said at least one external interface of the same respective ASIC device based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said second data packet.

10. The array of claim 1, wherein each of said respective first, second and third data communication links comprises hardware configured to check packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective data communication link using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

11. The array of claim 1, wherein said array is configured for use as part of a signal processing circuit.

12. The array of claim 1, wherein said three or more ASIC devices are coupled together on a single circuit card.

13. The array of claim 12, wherein said array comprises a part of a reconfigurable signal processing circuit.

14. The array of claim 1, wherein said three or more ASIC devices of said ASIC array are further configured to distribute command, control and status information across each of said first, second and third duplex data communication links.

15. Signal processing circuitry comprising two or more ASIC devices, each one of said two or more ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said two or more ASIC devices and comprising a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having at least one reader interface configured as a packet source and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations or having at least one writer interface configured as a packet destination and multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources, a reader interface of said packet router of each one of said two or more ASIC devices being coupled to a respective writer interface of each respective packet router of each of the other of said two or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link so as to form a direct serial interconnection between each two of said two or more ASIC devices;

wherein each given one of said duplex serial data communication links is configured to transfer a data packet between two of said ASIC devices in a manner such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex serial data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex serial data communication links and wherein;

said packet router of each respective one of said two or more ASIC devices is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a given data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and to transmit said given data packet across one of said duplex serial data communication links from at least one of said writer interfaces of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective two or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

16. The signal processing circuitry of claim 15, wherein said signal processing circuitry is reconfigurable;

and wherein each of said two or more ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices.

17. The signal processing circuitry of claim 15, comprising three or more ASIC devices, each one of said three or more ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices and comprising a packet router contained entirely within each respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces and multiple writer interfaces, a reader interface of said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices being coupled to a respective writer interface of each respective packet router of each of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link so as to form a direct serial interconnection between each two of said three or more ASIC devices;

wherein each given one of said duplex serial data communication links is configured to transfer a data packet between two of said three of more ASIC devices in a manner such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex serial data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex serial data communication links and wherein said packet router of each respective one of said three or more ASIC devices is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a given data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and to transmit said given data packet across one of said duplex serial data communication links from at least one of said writer interfaces of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective three or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

18. The signal processing circuitry of claim 17, wherein said signal processing circuitry is reconfigurable;

and wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices.

19. The signal processing circuitry of claim 18, wherein each of said separate duplex data communication links includes no more than one serial connection.

20. The signal processing circuitry of claim 18, wherein each of said three or more FPGA devices comprises multi-gigabit serial transceiver (“

MGT”

) connections, and wherein said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is coupled to each respective packet router of each of the other of said three or more FPGA devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link existing between a MGT connection of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and a MGT connection of one other of said three or more FPGA devices.

21. The signal processing circuitry of claim 20, wherein each of said respective duplex data communication links comprises hardware configured to check packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective duplex data communication link using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

22. The signal processing circuitry of claim 20, wherein said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is configured to transmit and receive data packets across each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

23. The signal processing circuitry of claim 22, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices comprises user-defined circuitry contained entirely within said given FPGA device, said user-defined circuitry coupled to a reader interface and a writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said respective packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is configured to transmit and receive data packets between said user-defined circuitry of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

24. The signal processing circuitry of claim 23, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices further comprises at least one embedded processor contained entirely within said given FPGA device, said at least one embedded processor coupled to a reader interface and a writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said respective packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is further configured to transmit and receive data packets between said at least one embedded processor of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, said user-defined circuitry of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

25. The signal processing circuitry of claim 22, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices comprises at least one embedded processor contained entirely within said given FPGA device, said at least one embedded processor coupled to a reader interface and a writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said respective packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is configured to transmit and receive data packets between said at least one embedded processor of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

26. The signal processing circuitry of claim 22, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices comprises at least one external interface coupled to a reader interface and a writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said respective packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is configured to transmit and receive data packets between said at least one external interface of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

27. The signal processing circuitry of claim 23, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices further comprises at least one external interface coupled to a reader interface and a writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said respective packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is further configured to transmit and receive data packets between said at least one external interface of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and said user-defined circuitry of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

28. The signal processing circuitry of claim 23, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices further comprises at least one embedded processor contained entirely within said given FPGA device and at least one external interface, each of said at least one embedded processor and said at least one external interface being coupled to a respective reader interface and a respective writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said respective packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is further configured to transmit and receive data packets between said at least one embedded processor of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, said user-defined circuitry of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, said at least one external interface of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

29. The signal processing circuitry of claim 28, wherein each of said respective duplex data communication links comprises hardware configured to check packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective duplex data communication link using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

30. The signal processing circuitry of claim 29, wherein said three or more FPGA devices are coupled together on a single circuit card.

31. The signal processing circuitry of claim 30, wherein said three or more FPGA devices comprise at least four FPGA devices, wherein each of said at least four ASIC devices are further configured to distribute data, command, control and status information across duplex data communication links.

32. The signal processing circuitry of claim 15, wherein said packet router of each given one of said two or more ASIC devices comprises a switch fabric, said switch fabric being contained entirely within said given ASIC device.

33. The signal processing circuitry of claim 15, wherein said packet router of each given one of said two or more ASIC devices is configured to distribute command, control and status information across each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said two or more ASIC devices and each other of said two or more ASIC devices.

43. The method of claim 29, further comprising checking packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective first, second and third data communication links using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

34. A method of routing data packets between three or more ASIC devices of an ASIC array that each comprise a first serial connection and a second serial connection, said method comprising:

transferring at least one data packet across a first serial data communication link formed between a first serial connection of a first one of said three or more ASIC devices and a first serial connection of a second one of said three or more ASIC devices with no other serial connection therebetween;

transferring at least one data packet across a second serial data communication link formed between a second serial connection of said first one of said three or more ASIC devices and a first serial connection of a third one of said three or more other ASIC devices with no other serial connection therebetween; and

transferring at least one data packet across a third serial data communication link formed between a second serial connection of said second one of said three or more ASIC devices and a second serial connection of said third one of said three or more ASIC devices with no other serial connection therebetween;

wherein each of said first, second and third communication links comprise duplex data communication links;

wherein said method further comprises bi-directionally transferring data packets across each given one of said first, second and third duplex serial data communication links such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex serial data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex serial data communication links; and

wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices is a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein each of said ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices;

wherein each of said serial connections comprises a multi-gigabit serial transceiver (“

MGT”

) connection.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein said array further comprises a fourth FPGA device that is a separate chip from the other of said ASIC devices and that comprises at least first, second, and third MGT connections;

wherein each of said first, second and third FPGA devices further comprises a third MGT connection; and

wherein said method further comprises bi-directionally transferring data packets across a fourth duplex data communication link formed between said third serial connection of said first one of said FPGA devices and said first serial connection of said fourth one of said FPGA devices with no other serial connection therebetween;

bi-directionally transferring data packets across a fifth duplex data communication link formed between said third serial connection of said second one of said FPGA devices and said second serial connection of said fourth one of said FPGA devices with no other serial connection therebetween; and

bi-directionally transferring data packets across a sixth duplex data communication link formed between said third serial connection of said third one of said FPGA devices and said third serial connection of said fourth one of said FPGA devices with no other serial connection therebetween, wherein said four FPGA devices of said ASIC array are further configured to distribute data, command, control and status information across each of said first, second, third and fourth duplex data communication links; and

wherein said method further comprises bi-directionally transferring data packets across each given one of said fourth, fifth and sixth duplex data communication links such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex data communication links.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations, at least one of said reader interfaces and at least one of said writer interfaces being coupled to each of said first and second serial connections of said respective ASIC device;

wherein each of said first, second and third communication links comprise duplex communication links; and

wherein said method further comprises;

processing requests in said packet router of each of said three or more respective ASIC devices for transfer of packets to each of said first and second serial connections of said respective ASIC device based on priority, and

processing multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and determining a destination of a given data packet in said packet router from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and transmitting said given data packet across one of said duplex serial data communication links from at least one of said writer interfaces of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective three or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations, at least one of said reader interfaces and at least one of said writer interfaces being coupled to each of said first and second serial connections of said respective ASIC device;

wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one embedded module contained entirely within said respective ASIC device and separate from said packet router of said respective ASIC device;

wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective ASIC devices has at least one reader interface configured as a packet source and at least one writer interface configured as a packet destination coupled to said at least one embedded module; and

wherein said method further comprises transferring data, packets between said embedded module and said packet router through said at least one reader interface or said at least one writer interface coupled to said embedded module by determining a destination in said packet router from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices comprises a FPGA device;

and wherein said at least one embedded module of each of said respective three or more FPGA devices comprises a user-defined hardware module, an embedded processor module, or both.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one external interface;

wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective FPGA devices has at least one reader interface and at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one external interface; and

wherein said method further comprises transferring data packets between said external interface and said packet router through said at least one reader interface or said at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one external interface based on a destination by determining a destination in said packet router from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one external interface, at least one user-defined hardware module, and at least one embedded processor module;

wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective FPGA devices has multiple reader interfaces and multiple writer interfaces, said at least one reader interface and at least one of said writer interfaces being coupled to each of said at least one external interface, at least one user-defined hardware module, and at least one embedded processor module; and

wherein said method further comprises transferring data packets between said packet router and each of said at least one external interface, at least one user-defined hardware module, and at least one embedded processor module through said at least one reader interface or said at least one writer interface coupled to each of said at least one external interface, at least one user-defined hardware module, and at least one embedded processor module by determining a destination in said packet router from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations, at least one of said reader interface and at least one of said writer interfaces being coupled to each of said first and second serial connections of said respective ASIC device;

wherein each of said respective three or more ASIC devices further comprises at least one external interface;

wherein said packet router of each of said three or more respective ASIC devices has at least one reader interface and at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one external interface; and

wherein said method further comprises transferring data packets between said external interface and said packet router through said at least one reader interface or said at least one writer interface coupled to said at least one external interface by determining a destination in said packet router from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

44. The method of claim 34, wherein said method further comprises distributing command, control and status information across each of said first, second and third duplex serial data communication links.

45. A method of processing signals using signal processing circuitry comprising two or more ASIC devices, each one of said two or more ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said two or more ASIC devices and comprising a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having at least one reader interface configured as a packet source and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations or having at least one writer interface configured as a packet destination and multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources, and said method comprising transferring at least one data packet from each said packet router of each one of said two or more ASIC devices to each respective packet router of each of the other of said two or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link that forms a direct serial interconnection between each two of said two or more ASIC devices, said separate respective duplex data communication link being coupled between a reader interface of said packet router of one of said two or more ASIC devices and a respective writer interface of another of said two or more ASIC devices and wherein said method further comprises:

transferring data packets across each given one of said duplex data communication links such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex data communication links, and

processing multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and determining a destination of a given data packet in a packet router of one of said two or more ASIC devices from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and transmitting said given data packet across one of said duplex serial data communication links from at least one writer interface of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective two or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said signal processing circuitry is reconfigurable;

wherein each of said two or more ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices;

wherein each of said two or more FPGA devices comprises multi-gigabit serial transceiver (“

MGT”

) connections;

wherein said packet router of each given one of said two or more FPGA devices is coupled to each respective packet router of each one of the other of said two or more FPGA devices by said separate respective duplex data communication link; and

wherein said separate respective duplex data communication link exists between a MGT connection of said given one of said two or more FPGA devices and a MGT connection of one other of said two or more FPGA devices.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein said packet router of each given one of said two or more ASIC devices comprises a switch fabric, said switch fabric being contained entirely within said given ASIC device.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein said method further comprises distributing command control and status information from each said packet router of each one of said two or more ASIC devices to each respective packet router of each of the other of said two or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link that forms a direct serial interconnection between each two of said two or more ASIC devices.

58. The method of claim 45, said method comprising processing signals using signal processing circuitry comprising three or more ASIC devices, each one of said three or more ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices and comprising a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations, and said method comprising transferring at least one data packet from each said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices to each respective packet router of each one of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link that forms a direct serial interconnection between each two of said three or more ASIC devices;

and wherein said method further comprises;

transferring said at least one data packet from each said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices to each respective packet router of each one of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a given separate respective duplex serial data communication link in a manner such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex serial data communication link during said transfer of said data packet across said given separate respective duplex serial data communication link, and

processing multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and determining a destination of a given data packet in a packet router of one of said three or more ASIC devices from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and transmitting said given data packet across one of said duplex serial data communication links from at least one writer interface of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective three or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein said signal processing circuitry is reconfigurable;

wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices;

wherein each of said three or more FPGA devices comprises multi-gigabit serial transceiver (“

MGT”

) connections;

wherein said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is coupled to each respective packet router of each one of the other of said three or more FPGA devices by said separate respective duplex data communication link; and

wherein said separate respective duplex data communication link exists between a MGT connection of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and a MGT connection of one other of said three or more FPGA devices.

49. Signal processing circuitry comprising three or more ASIC devices, each one of said three or more ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices and comprising a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices having multiple reader interfaces and multiple writer interfaces, said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices also being coupled to each respective packet router of each one of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link so as to form a direct interconnection between each two of said three or more ASIC devices;

and wherein said packet router of each respective one of said three or more ASIC devices is configured to process multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and to determine a destination of a given data packet from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and to transmit said given data packet across one of said duplex data communication links from at least one of said writer interfaces of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective three or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

50. The signal processing circuitry of claim 49, wherein said signal processing circuitry is reconfigurable;

and wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices.

51. The signal processing circuitry of claim 50, wherein each of said respective duplex data communication links comprises hardware configured to check packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective duplex data communication link using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

52. The signal processing circuitry of claim 50, wherein said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices is configured to transmit and receive data packets across each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

53. The signal processing circuitry of claim 50, wherein said three or more FPGA devices are coupled together on a single circuit card.

54. The signal processing circuitry of claim 50, wherein said three or more FPGA devices comprise at least four FPGA devices, wherein said four ASIC devices of are further configured to distribute data, command, control, and status information across duplex data communication links.

55. The signal-processing circuitry of claim 49, wherein said packet router of each given one of said two or more ASIC devices comprises a switch fabric, said switch fabric being contained entirely within said given ASIC devices.

56. Signal processing circuitry comprising three or more ASIC devices coupled together by one or more duplex serial data communication links and being configured so that any given one of said three or more ASIC devices may bi-directionally communicate across a duplex serial data communication link with any given other one of said three or more ASIC devices, said duplex serial data communication link comprising no more than two serial connections;

wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices comprises a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having at least one reader interface configured as a packet source and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations or having at least one writer interface configured as a packet destination and multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources, a reader interface of said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices being coupled to a respective writer interface of each respective packet router of each of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex serial data communication link so as to form a direct serial interconnection between each two of said three or more ASIC devices; and

wherein each given one of said duplex serial data communication links is configured to transfer a data packet between two of said ASIC devices in a manner such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex serial data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex serial data communication links; and

wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices is a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices.

57. A method of processing signals using three or more ASIC devices, said method comprising bi-directionally communicating signals across a duplex serial data communication link from any given one of said three or more ASIC devices to any given other one of said three or more ASIC devices, said duplex serial data communication link comprising no more than two serial connections;

wherein said method further comprises transferring a data packet across a given duplex serial data communication link between two of said three or more ASIC devices in a manner such that one data packet is transferred in whole by a given one of said duplex serial data communication links during said transfer of said data packet across said given one of said duplex serial data communication links;

wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices is a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices; and

wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices comprises a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having at least one reader interface configured as a packet source and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations or having at least one writer interface configured as a packet destination and multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources, a reader interface of said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices being coupled to a respective writer interface of each respective packet router of each of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex serial data communication link so as to form a direct serial interconnection between each two of said three or more ASIC devices.

60. A method of processing signals using signal processing circuitry comprising three or more ASIC devices, each one of said three or more ASIC devices being a separate chip from the other of said three or more ASIC devices and comprising a packet router contained entirely within said respective ASIC device, said packet router having multiple reader interfaces configured as packet sources and multiple writer interfaces configured as packet destinations, and said method comprising:

transferring at least one data packet from each said packet router of each one of said three or more ASIC devices to each respective packet router of each of the other of said three or more ASIC devices by a separate respective duplex data communication link that forms a direct interconnection between each two of said three or more ASIC devices, each of said separate respective duplex data communication links being coupled between a reader interface of said packet router of one of said three or more ASIC devices and a respective writer interface of another of said three or more ASIC devices; and

processing multiple simultaneous requests for transfer of data packets and determining a destination of a given data packet in a packet router of one of said three or more ASIC devices from a routing code contained within a header of said given data packet and transmitting said given data packet across one of said duplex data communication links from at least one writer interface of said packet router of the same respective ASIC device to a reader interface of another one of said respective three or more ASIC devices based on said destination determined from said routing code contained within said header of said given data packet.

61. The method of claim 60, further comprising checking packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective duplex data communication link using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

62. The method of claim 60, further comprising using said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices to transmit and receive data packets across each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices comprises user-defined circuitry contained entirely within said given FPGA device, said user-defined circuitry coupled to a reader interface and a writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said method further comprises using said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices to transmit and receive data packets between said user-defined circuitry of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein each given one of said three or more FPGA devices further comprises at least one embedded processor contained entirely within said respective ASIC device and at least one external interface, each of said at least one embedded processor and said at least one external interface being coupled to a respective reader interface and a respective writer interface of said respective packet router of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices;

and wherein said method further comprises using said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices to transmit and receive data packets between said at least one embedded processor of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, said user-defined circuitry of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, said at least one external interface of said given one of said three or more FPGA devices, and each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

65. The method of claim 60, wherein said signal processing circuitry is reconfigurable;

and wherein each of said three or more ASIC devices comprise FPGA devices.

66. The method of claim 65, further comprising checking packet integrity of data packets transferred across said respective duplex data communication link using a hardware layer of a packet transfer protocol.

67. The method of claim 65, further comprising using said packet router of each given one of said three or more FPGA devices to transmit and receive data packets across each of said separate respective duplex data communication links existing between said given one of said three or more FPGA devices and each other of said three or more FPGA devices based on a destination determined from a routing code contained within a header of each of said data packets.

68. The method of claim 60, wherein said packet router of each given one of said two or more ASIC devices comprises a switch fabric, said switch fabric being contained entirely within said given ASIC devices.