A Self-Reconfiguring Platform For Embedded Systems

Abstract

The JBits Application Programming Interface has significantly shortened FPGA reconfiguration times by manipulating the configurable resources of the FPGAs directly under software control. The execution of JBits programs, however, requires a Java Virtual Machine to be implemented on the platform where the configurations will be modified. This presents a problem for embedded systems where a microprocessor to run a Java Virtual Machine may not be available or desirable. This thesis discusses the implementation of a FPGA platform that allows the execution of JBits programs, effectively changing the configuration of a FPGA within a FPGA. This thesis also presents a four step developing and testing strategy for JBits programs that are intended to run on this FPGA platform.