Project

Dynamically reconfigurable architectures enable a major acceleration of diverse applications by changing and optimizing the structure of the system at runtime. Permanent and transient faults threaten the correct operation of such an architecture. This project aims to increase dependability of runtime reconfigurable systems by a novel system-level strategy for online tests and online adaptation to an impaired state. This will be achieved by (a) scheduling such that tests for reconfigurable resources are executed with minimal performance impact, (b) resource management such that partially faulty resources are used for components which do not require the faulty elements, and (c) online monitoring and error checking. To ensure reliable runtime reconfiguration, each reconfiguration process is thoroughly tested by a novel and efficient combination of online structural and functional tests. Compared to existing fault-tolerance approaches, our proposal avoids the large hardware overhead of structural redundancy schemes. The saved resources are available for further application acceleration. Still, the proposed scheme covers faults in the fabric, in the reconfigured application logic and errors in the process of reconfiguration. In the framework of the SPP 1500 priority program, this project contributes to - Dependable Hardware Architectures, - Design Methods and - Operation, Observation and Adaptation.