FPGAs provide an ideal template for run-time reconfigurable (RTR) designs. Only recently have RTR enabling design tools that bypass the traditional synthesis and bitstream generation process for FPGAs become available. The JBits tool suite is an environment that provides support for RTR designs on Xilinx Virtex and 4K devices. This research provides a comprehensive design process description of a two-dimensional discrete wavelet transform (DWT) core using the JBits run-time reconfigurable FPGA design tool suite. Several aspects of the design process are discussed, including implementation, simulation, debugging, and hardware interfacing to a reconfigurable computing platform. The DWT lends itself to a straightforward implementation in hardware, requiring relatively simple logic for control and address generation circuitry. Through the application of RTR techniques to the DWT, this research attempts to exploit certain advantages that are unobtainable with static implementations. Performance results of the DWT core are presented, including speed of operation, resource consumption, and reconfiguration overhead times. / Master of Science

In the realm of FPGAs, many tool vendors offer behaviorally-based simulators aimed at easing the complexity of large FPGA designs. At times, a behaviorally-modeled design does not work in hardware as expected or intended. VTsim, a Virtex-II device simulator, was designed to resolve this and many other design problems by providing a window into the FPGA fabric via a virtual device. VTsim is an event-driven device simulator modeled at the CLB level with multiple clock domain support. Utilizing JBits3 and ADB, VTsim enables simulation and examination of all resources within an FPGA via a virtual device. The only input required by VTsim is a bitstream, which can be generated from any tool suite. The simulator is part of the JHDLBits open-source project, and was designed for rapid response, low memory usage, and ease of interaction. / Master of Science

Today's Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) research community could use an extensible tool flow enabling designers to examine new algorithms and new methods of interacting with FPGA configurations. One such flow is JHDLBits, which integrates two prominent FPGA design environments: JHDL and JBits. JHDLBits offers the low-level access and control provided by JBits with the high-level structural circuit design of JHDL. Furthermore, the JHDLBits flow provides greater control of resource manipulation, placement, and routing, and gives researchers a sandbox to explore advanced interactions with FPGA configurations. This thesis presents the overall architecture of the open-source JHDLBits project. Details are provided on how the core components -- JHDL, JBits3 for Virtex-II, the ADB connectivity database, and VTsim, a Virtex-II device simulator -- are linked together to provide an integrated design environment. Strategies and philosophies of the open source movement are also examined to successfully establish the support for and involvement of the FPGA research community throughout the JHDLBits open source endeavor. / Master of Science

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. / Master of Science

The high-radiation environment in space can lead to anomalies in normal satellite operation. A major cause of concern to spacecraft-designers is the single event upset (SEU). SEUs can result in deviations from expected component behavior and are capable of causing irreversible damage to hardware. In particular, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are known to be highly susceptible to SEUs. Radiation-hardened versions of such devices are associated with an increase in power consumption and cost in addition to being technologically inferior when compared to contemporary commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) parts. This thesis consequently aims at exploring the option of using COTS FPGAs in satellite payloads. A framework is developed, allowing the SEU susceptibility of such a device to be studied. SEU testing is carried out in a software-simulated fault environment using a set of Java classes called JBits. A radiation detector module, to measure the radiation backdrop of the device, is also envisioned as part of the final design implementation.