25-03-2011, 02:12 PM
SUBMITTED BY
D.CHANDANA
[attachment=10983]
ABSTRACT
Chameleon chips are chips whose circuitry can be tailored specifically for the problem at hand. Chameleon chips would be an extension of what can already be done with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAS). An FPGA is covered with a grid of wires. At each crossover, there's a switch that can be semipermanently opened or closed by sending it a special signal. Usually the chip must first be inserted in a little box that sends the programming signals. But now, labs in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. are developing techniques to rewire FPGA-like chips anytime--and even software that can map out circuitry that's optimized for specific problems.
The chips still won't change colors. But they may well color the way we use computers in years to come. It is a fusion between custom integrated circuits and programmable logic.in the case when we are doing highly performance oriented tasks custom chips that do one or two things spectacularly rather than lot of things averagely is used. Now using field programmed chips we have chips that can be rewired in an instant. Thus the benefits of customization can be brought to the mass market.
INTRODUCTION
Today's microprocessors sport a general-purpose design which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Adv: One chip can run a range of programs. That's why you don't need separate computers for different jobs, such as crunching spreadsheets or editing digital photos
Disadv: For any one application, much of the chip's circuitry isn't needed, and the presence of those "wasted" circuits slows things down.
Suppose, instead, that the chip's circuits could be tailored specifically for the problem at hand--say, computer-aided design--and then rewired, on the fly, when you loaded a tax-preparation program. One set of chips, little bigger than a credit card, could do almost anything, even changing into a wireless phone. The market for such versatile marvels would be huge, and would translate into lower costs for users.
So computer scientists are hatching a novel concept that could increase number-crunching power--and trim costs as well. Call it the chameleon chip.
Chameleon chips would be an extension of what can already be done with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAS).
An FPGA is covered with a grid of wires. At each crossover, there's a switch that can be semipermanently opened or closed by sending it a special signal. Usually the chip must first be inserted in a little box that sends the
programming signals. But now, labs in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. are developing techniques to rewire FPGA-like chips anytime--and even software that can map out circuitry that's optimized for specific problems.
The chips still won't change colors. But they may well color the way we use computers in years to come. it is a fusion between custom integrated circuits and programmable logic. in the case when we are doing highly performance oriented tasks custom chips that do one or two things spectacularly rather than lot of things averagely is used. Now using field programmed chips we have chips that can be rewired in an instant. Thus the benefits of customization can be brought to the mass market.
A reconfigurable processor is a microprocessor with erasable hardware that can rewire itself dynamically. This allows the chip to adapt effectively to the programming tasks demanded by the particular software they are interfacing with at any given time. Ideally, the reconfigurable processor can transform itself from a video chip to a central processing unit (cpu) to a graphics chip, for example, all optimized to allow applications to run at the highest possible speed. The new chips can be called a "chip on demand." In practical terms, this ability can translate to immense flexibility in terms of device functions. For example, a single device could serve as both a camera and a tape recorder (among numerous other possibilities): you would simply download the desired software and the processor would reconfigure itself to optimize performance for that function.
Reconfigurable processors, competing in the market with traditional hard-wired chips and several types of programmable microprocessors. Programmable chips have been in existence for over ten years. Digital signal
processors (DSPs), for example, are high-performance programmable chips used in cell phones, automobiles, and various types of music players.
Another version, programmable logic chips are equipped with arrays of memory cells that can be programmed to perform hardware functions using software tools. These are more flexible than the specialized DSP chips but also slower and more expensive. Hard-wired chips are the oldest, cheapest, and fastest - but also the least flexible - of all the options.
CHAMELEON CHIPS
Highly flexible processors that can be reconfigured remotely in the field, Chameleon's chips are designed to simplify communication system design while delivering increased price/performance numbers. The chameleon chip is a high bandwidth reconfigurable communications processor (RCP).it aims at changing a system's design from a remote location. This will mean more versatile handhelds. Processors operate at 24,000 16-bit million operations per second (MOPS), 3,000 16-bit million multiply-accumulates per second (MMACS), and provide 50 channels of CDMA2000 chip-rate processing. The 0.25-micron chip, the CS2112 is an example.
These new chips are able to rewire themselves on the fly to create the exact hardware needed to run a piece of software at the utmost speed. an example of such kind of a chip is a chameleon chip.this can also be called a “chip on demand” “Reconfigurable computing goes a step beyond programmable chips in the matter of flexibility. It is not only possible but relatively commonplace to "rewrite" the silicon so that it can perform new functions in a split second. Reconfigurable chips are simply the extreme end of programmability.”
The overall performance of the ACM can surpass the DSP because the ACM only constructs the actual hardware needed to execute the software, whereas DSPs and microprocessors force the software to fit its given architecture.
One reason that this type of versatility is not possible today is that handheld gadgets are typically built around highly optimized specialty chips that do one thing really well. These chips are fast and relatively cheap, but their circuits are literally written in stone -- or at least in silicon. A multipurpose gadget would have to have many specialized chips -- a costly and clumsy solution. Alternately, you could use a general-purpose microprocessor, like the one in your PC, but that would be slow as well as expensive. For these reasons, chip designers are turning increasingly to reconfigurable hardware—integrated circuits where the architecture of the internal logic elements can be arranged and rearranged on the fly to fit particular applications.
Designers of multimedia systems face three significant challenges in today's ultra-competitive marketplace: Our products must do more, cost less, and be brought to the market quicker than ever. Though each of these goals is individually attainable, the hat trick is generally unachievable with traditional design and implementation techniques. Fortunately, some new techniques are emerging from the study of reconfigurable computing that make it possible to design systems that satisfy all three requirements simultaneously.
Although originally proposed in the late 1960s by a researcher at UCLA, reconfigurable computing is a relatively new field of study. The decades-long delay had mostly to do with a lack of acceptable reconfigurable hardware. Reprogrammable logic chips like field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have been around for many years, but these chips have only recently reached gate densities making them suitable for high-end applications. (The densest of the current FPGAs have approximately 100,000 reprogrammable logic gates.) With an anticipated doubling of gate densities every 18 months, the situation will only become more favorable from this point forward.
The primary product is a groundstation equipment for satellite communications. This application involves high-rate communications, signal processing, and a variety of network protocols and data formats.
ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATIONS
Its applications are in,
data-intensive Internet
DSP
wireless basestations
voice compression
software-defined radio
high-performance embedded telecom and datacom applications
xDSL concentrators
fixed wireless local loop
multichannel voice compression
multiprotocol packet and cell processing protocols
Its advantages are
can create customized communications signal processors
increased performance and channel count
can more quickly adapt to new requirements and standards
lower development costs and reduce risk.
D.CHANDANA
[attachment=10983]
ABSTRACT
Chameleon chips are chips whose circuitry can be tailored specifically for the problem at hand. Chameleon chips would be an extension of what can already be done with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAS). An FPGA is covered with a grid of wires. At each crossover, there's a switch that can be semipermanently opened or closed by sending it a special signal. Usually the chip must first be inserted in a little box that sends the programming signals. But now, labs in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. are developing techniques to rewire FPGA-like chips anytime--and even software that can map out circuitry that's optimized for specific problems.
The chips still won't change colors. But they may well color the way we use computers in years to come. It is a fusion between custom integrated circuits and programmable logic.in the case when we are doing highly performance oriented tasks custom chips that do one or two things spectacularly rather than lot of things averagely is used. Now using field programmed chips we have chips that can be rewired in an instant. Thus the benefits of customization can be brought to the mass market.
INTRODUCTION
Today's microprocessors sport a general-purpose design which has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Adv: One chip can run a range of programs. That's why you don't need separate computers for different jobs, such as crunching spreadsheets or editing digital photos
Disadv: For any one application, much of the chip's circuitry isn't needed, and the presence of those "wasted" circuits slows things down.
Suppose, instead, that the chip's circuits could be tailored specifically for the problem at hand--say, computer-aided design--and then rewired, on the fly, when you loaded a tax-preparation program. One set of chips, little bigger than a credit card, could do almost anything, even changing into a wireless phone. The market for such versatile marvels would be huge, and would translate into lower costs for users.
So computer scientists are hatching a novel concept that could increase number-crunching power--and trim costs as well. Call it the chameleon chip.
Chameleon chips would be an extension of what can already be done with field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAS).
An FPGA is covered with a grid of wires. At each crossover, there's a switch that can be semipermanently opened or closed by sending it a special signal. Usually the chip must first be inserted in a little box that sends the
programming signals. But now, labs in Europe, Japan, and the U.S. are developing techniques to rewire FPGA-like chips anytime--and even software that can map out circuitry that's optimized for specific problems.
The chips still won't change colors. But they may well color the way we use computers in years to come. it is a fusion between custom integrated circuits and programmable logic. in the case when we are doing highly performance oriented tasks custom chips that do one or two things spectacularly rather than lot of things averagely is used. Now using field programmed chips we have chips that can be rewired in an instant. Thus the benefits of customization can be brought to the mass market.
A reconfigurable processor is a microprocessor with erasable hardware that can rewire itself dynamically. This allows the chip to adapt effectively to the programming tasks demanded by the particular software they are interfacing with at any given time. Ideally, the reconfigurable processor can transform itself from a video chip to a central processing unit (cpu) to a graphics chip, for example, all optimized to allow applications to run at the highest possible speed. The new chips can be called a "chip on demand." In practical terms, this ability can translate to immense flexibility in terms of device functions. For example, a single device could serve as both a camera and a tape recorder (among numerous other possibilities): you would simply download the desired software and the processor would reconfigure itself to optimize performance for that function.
Reconfigurable processors, competing in the market with traditional hard-wired chips and several types of programmable microprocessors. Programmable chips have been in existence for over ten years. Digital signal
processors (DSPs), for example, are high-performance programmable chips used in cell phones, automobiles, and various types of music players.
Another version, programmable logic chips are equipped with arrays of memory cells that can be programmed to perform hardware functions using software tools. These are more flexible than the specialized DSP chips but also slower and more expensive. Hard-wired chips are the oldest, cheapest, and fastest - but also the least flexible - of all the options.
CHAMELEON CHIPS
Highly flexible processors that can be reconfigured remotely in the field, Chameleon's chips are designed to simplify communication system design while delivering increased price/performance numbers. The chameleon chip is a high bandwidth reconfigurable communications processor (RCP).it aims at changing a system's design from a remote location. This will mean more versatile handhelds. Processors operate at 24,000 16-bit million operations per second (MOPS), 3,000 16-bit million multiply-accumulates per second (MMACS), and provide 50 channels of CDMA2000 chip-rate processing. The 0.25-micron chip, the CS2112 is an example.
These new chips are able to rewire themselves on the fly to create the exact hardware needed to run a piece of software at the utmost speed. an example of such kind of a chip is a chameleon chip.this can also be called a “chip on demand” “Reconfigurable computing goes a step beyond programmable chips in the matter of flexibility. It is not only possible but relatively commonplace to "rewrite" the silicon so that it can perform new functions in a split second. Reconfigurable chips are simply the extreme end of programmability.”
The overall performance of the ACM can surpass the DSP because the ACM only constructs the actual hardware needed to execute the software, whereas DSPs and microprocessors force the software to fit its given architecture.
One reason that this type of versatility is not possible today is that handheld gadgets are typically built around highly optimized specialty chips that do one thing really well. These chips are fast and relatively cheap, but their circuits are literally written in stone -- or at least in silicon. A multipurpose gadget would have to have many specialized chips -- a costly and clumsy solution. Alternately, you could use a general-purpose microprocessor, like the one in your PC, but that would be slow as well as expensive. For these reasons, chip designers are turning increasingly to reconfigurable hardware—integrated circuits where the architecture of the internal logic elements can be arranged and rearranged on the fly to fit particular applications.
Designers of multimedia systems face three significant challenges in today's ultra-competitive marketplace: Our products must do more, cost less, and be brought to the market quicker than ever. Though each of these goals is individually attainable, the hat trick is generally unachievable with traditional design and implementation techniques. Fortunately, some new techniques are emerging from the study of reconfigurable computing that make it possible to design systems that satisfy all three requirements simultaneously.
Although originally proposed in the late 1960s by a researcher at UCLA, reconfigurable computing is a relatively new field of study. The decades-long delay had mostly to do with a lack of acceptable reconfigurable hardware. Reprogrammable logic chips like field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) have been around for many years, but these chips have only recently reached gate densities making them suitable for high-end applications. (The densest of the current FPGAs have approximately 100,000 reprogrammable logic gates.) With an anticipated doubling of gate densities every 18 months, the situation will only become more favorable from this point forward.
The primary product is a groundstation equipment for satellite communications. This application involves high-rate communications, signal processing, and a variety of network protocols and data formats.
ADVANTAGES AND APPLICATIONS
Its applications are in,
data-intensive Internet
DSP
wireless basestations
voice compression
software-defined radio
high-performance embedded telecom and datacom applications
xDSL concentrators
fixed wireless local loop
multichannel voice compression
multiprotocol packet and cell processing protocols
Its advantages are
can create customized communications signal processors
increased performance and channel count
can more quickly adapt to new requirements and standards
lower development costs and reduce risk.
