Ces dernières années, les fournisseurs de cloud et les centres de données ont intégrés les FPGA dans leur environnement à des fins d'accélération. Cela est dû au fait que les accélérateurs à base de FPGA sont connus pour leur faible puissance et leurs bonnes performances par watt. En outre, l'introduction de la capacité de reconfiguration partielle dynamique (DPR) de certains FPGA incite les chercheurs de l'industrie et des universitaires à proposer des services de cloud FPGA virtualisés baser sur DPR. Dans la plupart des travaux existants, l'interconnexion entre les vFPGA repose soit sur les réseaux BUS ou OpenFlow. Cependant le bus et OpenFlow ne sont pas des solutions optimales pour la virtualisation.Dans cette thèse, nous avons proposé un NoC évolutif à l'exécution pour les accélérateurs basés sur FPGA virtualisés dans un cloud computing. Les composants NoC s'adapteront dynamiquement aux nombres d'accélérateurs virtualisés actifs en ajoutant et en supprimant des sous-noC. Pour minimiser la complexité de la conception de l'architecture NoC à un niveau inférieur (implémentation HDL), nous avons proposé un langage de modélisation unifié de haut niveau (UML) basé sur une ingénierie dirigée par les modèles. Une approche basée sur UML / MARTE et IP-XACT est utilisée pour définir les composants de la topologie NoC de haut niveau et générer les fichiers HDL requis. Les résultats des expériences montrent que le NoC évolutif à l'exécution peut réduire la consommation d'énergie de 17%. La caractérisation NoC sur la modélisation de haut niveau basée sur MDE réduit également le temps de conception de 25%. / In the last few years, cloud providers and data centers have been integrating FPGAs in their environment for acceleration purpose. This is due to the fact that FPGA based accelerator are known for their lower power and good performance per watt. Moreover, the introduction of the ability for dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR) of some FPGAs trigger researchers in both industry and academics to propose DPR based virtualized FPGA (vFPGA) cloud services. In most of the existing works, the interconnection between the vFPGAs relies either on BUS or OpenFlow networks. However, both the bus and OpenFlow are not virtualization-aware and optimal solutions. In this thesis, we have proposed a virtualization-aware dynamically scalable NoC for virtualized FPGA accelerators in cloud computing. The NoC components will adapt to the number of active virtualized accelerator dynamically by adding and removing sub-NoCs. To minimize the complexity of NoC architecture design at a low level (HDL implementation), we have proposed a Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) based high-level unified modeling language (UML). A UML/MARTE and IP-XACT based approach are used to define the NoC Topology components at a high-level and generate the required HDL files. Experiment results show that the dynamically scalable NoC can reduce the power consumption by 17%. The MDE based high-level modeling based NoC characterization also reduce the design time by 25%.

The main contribution of this thesis consists on the proposition and development a Model-driven Engineering (MDE) framework, in tandem with a component-based approach, for facilitating the design and implementation of Dynamic Partially Reconfigurable (DPR) Systems-on-Chip. The proposed methodology has been constructed around the Metadata-based Composition Framework paradigm, and based on common standards such as UML MARTE and the IEEE IP-XACT standard, an XML representation used for storing metadata about the IPs to be reused and of the platforms to be obtained at high-levels of abstraction. In fact, a componentizing process enables us to reuse the IP blocks, in UML MARTE, by wrapping them with PLB (static IPs) and proprietary (DPR blocks) interfaces. This is attained by reflecting the associated IP metadata to IP-XACT descriptions, and then to UML MARTE templates (IP reuse). Subsequently, these IP templates are used for composing a DPR model that can be exploited to create a Xilinx Platform Studio FPGA-design, through model transformations. The IP reflection and system generation chains were developed using Sodius MDWorkbench, an MDE tool conceived for the creation and manipulation of models and their meta-models, as well as the definition and execution of the associated transformation rules.

A ferramenta ChipCflow vem sendo desenvolvida nos últimos quatro anos, inicialmente a partir de um projeto de arquitetura a fluxo de dados dinâmico em hardware reconfigurável, mas agora como uma ferramenta de compilação. Ela tem como objetivo a execução de algoritmos por meio do modelo de arquitetura a fluxo de dados associado ao conceito de dispositivos parcialmente reconfiguráveis. Sua característica principal é acelerar o tempo de execução de programas escritos em Linguagem de Programação de Alto Nível (LPAN), do inglês, High Level Languages, em particular nas partes mais intensas de processamento. Isso é feito por meio da implementação dessas partes de código diretamente em hardware reconfigurável - utilizando a tecnologia Field-programmable Gate Array (FPGA) - aproveitando ao máximo o paralelismo considerado natural do modelo a fluxo de dados e as características do hardware parcialmente reconfigurável. Neste trabalho, o objetivo é a prova de conceito do processo de partição e do protocolo de comunicação entre as partições definidas a partir de um Grafo de Fluxo de Dados (GFD), para a execução direta em hardware reconfigurável utilizando Reconfiguração Parcial Dinâmica (RPD). Foi necessário elaborar um mecanismo de partição e protocolo de comunicação entre essas partições, uma vez que a RPD insere características tecnológicas limitantes não encontradas em hardwares reconfiguráveis mais tradicionais. O mecanismo criado se mostrou parcialmente adequado à prova de conceito, significando a possibilidade de se executar GFDs na plataforma parcialmente reconfigurável. Todavia, os tempos de reconfiguração inviabilizaram a proposta inicial de se utilizar RPD para diminuir o tempo de tag matching dos GFDs dinâmicos / The ChipCflow tool has been developed over the last four years, initially from an architectural design the flow of Dynamic Data in reconfigurable hardware, but now as a compilation tool. It aims to run algorithms using the model of the data flow architecture associated with the concept of partially reconfigurable devices. Its main feature is to accelerate the execution time of programs written in High Level Languages, particularly in the most intense processing. This is done by implementing those parts of code directly in reconfigurable hardware - using FPGA technology - leveraging the natural parallelism of the data flow model and characteristics of the partially reconfigurable hardware. In this work, the main goal is the proof of concept of the partition process and protocol communication between the partitions defined from Data Flow Graph for direct execution in reconfigurable hardware using Active Partial Reconfiguration. This required a mechanism to partition and a protocol for communication between these partitions, since the Active Partial Reconfiguration inserts technological features limiting not found in traditional reconfigurable hardware. The mechanism developed is show to be partially adequate to the proof of concept, meaning the ability to run Data Flow Graphs in a platform that is partially reconfigurable. However, the reconfiguration time inserts a great overhead into the execution time, which made the proposal of the use of Active Partial Reconfiguration to decrease the time matching Data Flow Graph unfeasible

This master's thesis dissertates of partial reconfiguration methods based on programmable structures. In theoretical part it deals with difference and modular-based method of Xilinx's FPGAs Partial reconfiguration. Options of both reconfiguration techniques were written for Spartan 3, Virtex II, Virtex 4 and Virtex 5 processors. Diference-based method was in practical part tested on Spartan 3E Starter Kit and modular-based on ML501 board. All configuration bitstreams are included on CD. Xilinx Inc. provided all needed software tools such as ISE9.2i and PlanAHEAD.

This thesis has its main subject pointed on possibilities of exploiting reconfigurable digital systems on FPGA basis in mixed signal applications. Description of reconfigurable and adaptive systems in general and summary of known architectures is presented in first part of this work. Next, possibilities of exploiting configurability of FPGAs in conjunction with XADC digital to analog converter are examined. These converters are provided in 7-series FPGAs and Zynq-7000 systems from Xilinx. Concept of exploiting XADC for inductance measurements is presented as alternative to existing solution - LDC1000 integrated circuit provided by Texas Instruments. Such system utilizing FPGA and XADC would come with a lot of benefits: better system integration, better signal processing options, possibility of constructing adaptive system with numerous sensory elements and last but not least, lower system cost. Advantages and disadvantages of such approach are analyzed in the very final part of this work and possible options for extension of this work are presented.

Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une architecture reconfigurable scalable et flexible, avec un réseau de communication parallèle « full-duplex switched » ainsi que le modèle d’exécution approprié ce qui nous a permis de redéfinir les paradigmes de calcul, de communication et de reconfiguration dans les systèmes embarqués à haute performance (HPEC). Ces systèmes sont devenus très sophistiqués et consommant des ressources pour trois raisons. Premièrement, ils doivent capturer et traiter des données en temps réel à partir de plusieurs sources d’E/S parallèles. Deuxièmement, ils devraient adapter leurs fonctionnalités selon l’application ou l’environnement. Troisièmement, à cause du parallélisme potentiel des applications, multiples instances de calcul réparties sur plusieurs nœuds sont nécessaires, ce qui rend ces systèmes massivement parallèles. Grace au parallélisme matériel offert par les FPGAs, la logique d’une fonction peut être reproduite plusieurs fois pour traiter des E/S parallèles, faisant du modèle d’exécution « Single Program Multiple Data » (SPMD) un modèle préféré pour les concepteurs d’architectures parallèles sur FPGA. En plus, la fonctionnalité de reconfiguration dynamique est un autre attrait des composants FPGA permettant la réutilisation efficace des ressources matérielles limitées. Le défi avec les systèmes HPEC actuels est qu’ils sont généralement conçus pour répondre à des besoins spécifiques d’une application engendrant l’obsolescence rapide du matériel. Dans cette thèse, nous proposons une architecture qui permet la personnalisation des nœuds de calcul (FPGA), la diffusion des données (E/S, bitstreams) et la reconfiguration de plusieurs nœuds de calcul en parallèle. L’environnement logiciel exploite les attraits du réseau de communication pour implémenter le modèle d’exécution SPMD.Enfin, afin de démontrer les avantages de notre architecture, nous avons mis en place une application d’encodage H.264 sécurisé distribué évolutif avec plusieurs protocoles de communication avioniques pour les données et le contrôle. Nous avons utilisé le protocole « serial Front Panel Data Port (sFPDP) » d’acquisition de données à haute vitesse basé sur le standard FMC pour capturer, encoder et de crypter le flux vidéo. Le système mis en œuvre s’appuie sur 3 FPGA différents, en respectant le modèle d’exécution SPMD. En outre, nous avons également mis en place un système d’E/S modulaire en échangeant des protocoles dynamiquement selon les besoins du système. Nous avons ainsi conçu une architecture évolutive et flexible et un modèle d’exécution parallèle afin de gérer plusieurs sources vidéo d’entrée parallèles. / In this thesis, we propose a scalable and customizable reconfigurable computing platform, with a parallel full-duplex switched communication network, and a software execution model to redefine the computation, communication and reconfiguration paradigms in High Performance Embedded Systems. High Performance Embedded Computing (HPEC) applications are becoming highly sophisticated and resource consuming for three reasons. First, they should capture and process real-time data from several I/O sources in parallel. Second, they should adapt their functionalities according to the application or environment variations within given Size Weight and Power (SWaP) constraints. Third, since they process several parallel I/O sources, applications are often distributed on multiple computing nodes making them highly parallel. Due to the hardware parallelism and I/O bandwidth offered by Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), application can be duplicated several times to process parallel I/Os, making Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) the favorite execution model for designers implementing parallel architectures on FPGAs. Furthermore Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration (DPR) feature allows efficient reuse of limited hardware resources, making FPGA a highly attractive solution for such applications. The problem with current HPEC systems is that, they are usually built to meet the needs of a specific application, i.e., lacks flexibility to upgrade the system or reuse existing hardware resources. On the other hand, applications that run on such hardware architectures are constantly being upgraded. Thus there is a real need for flexible and scalable hardware architectures and parallel execution models in order to easily upgrade the system and reuse hardware resources within acceptable time bounds. Thus these applications face challenges such as obsolescence, hardware redesign cost, sequential and slow reconfiguration, and wastage of computing power.Addressing the challenges described above, we propose an architecture that allows the customization of computing nodes (FPGAs), broadcast of data (I/O, bitstreams) and reconfiguration several or a subset of computing nodes in parallel. The software environment leverages the potential of the hardware switch, to provide support for the SPMD execution model. Finally, in order to demonstrate the benefits of our architecture, we have implemented a scalable distributed secure H.264 encoding application along with several avionic communication protocols for data and control transfers between the nodes. We have used a FMC based high-speed serial Front Panel Data Port (sFPDP) data acquisition protocol to capture, encode and encrypt RAW video streams. The system has been implemented on 3 different FPGAs, respecting the SPMD execution model. In addition, we have also implemented modular I/Os by swapping I/O protocols dynamically when required by the system. We have thus demonstrated a scalable and flexible architecture and a parallel runtime reconfiguration model in order to manage several parallel input video sources. These results represent a conceptual proof of a massively parallel dynamically reconfigurable next generation embedded computers.

The modern embedded system is getting more complicated due to the functional requirements of the system are rapidly increasing. The modern system must have more reliable, as it deals with a lot of data. The distributed systems are used in variety technologies field due to it has more reliable than single control unit. It can transfer task to other processing unit when the one part of system failed while the single control unit failed cause the system to stop operate. The FPGA are being used increasingly in the distributed system due to the benefit of FPGA over microcontroller and ASIC. FPGA is flexible than ASIC due to the ability to reconfiguration its function. FPGA processes the data in parallel, therefore, it computes the data faster than the microcontroller that computes the data in concurrence. The flexibility of FPGA supports the development of reliable distributed system. When one of FPGA failed, the other FPGA can reconfiguration itself to operate on the task of the failed FPGA. The method to reconfigure the FPGA structure is a process of loading new bitstream file into FPGA. For generating variety configurations of distributed system. The developer must develop number of bitstream file according to number of reconfiguration designs. Although the FPGA is flexible and can reconfiguration anytime, the development process of configuration file is a redundancy workload. One FPGA design structure equals one configuration file. This project focus on reduce the redundancy workload, therefore, it can reduce the development time and make the development project launching faster. This virtual partial reconfiguration framework is developed to assist the developer in generating many configuration files without coding. The framework will determine all possible combination of modules and generates all combination design files. One set of the design contain the VHDL file and UCF file. The developer can use these files to synthesise in FPGA vendor development tool and generate bitstream. This virtual partial reconfiguration framework also provides the partial reconfiguration benefits except runtime reconfiguration.

The usage of programmable logic resources in Field Programmable Gate Arrays, also known as FPGAs, has increased a lot recently due to the complexity of the algorithms, especially for some computer vision algorithms. Due to this reason, sometimes the hardware resources in the FPGA are not sufficient. Partial reconfiguration provides us with the possibility to solve this problem. Partial reconfiguration is a technique that can be used to reconfigure specific parts of the FPGA during run-time. By using this technique, we can reduce the need for programmable logic resources. This master thesis project aims to design a software framework for partial reconfiguration that can load a set of processing components/algorithms (e.g. object detection, optical flow, Harris-Corner detection etc) in the FPGA area without affecting real-time static components such as camera capture, basic image filtering and colour conversion which are continuously running. Partial reconfiguration has been applied to two different video processing pipelines, a direct streaming architecture and a frame buffer streaming architecture respectively. The result shows that reconfiguration time is predictable which depends on the partial bitstream size, and that partial reconfiguration can be used in real-time applications taking the partial bitstream size and the frequency to switch the partial bitstreams into account. / Användningen av programmerbara logiska resurser i Field Programmable Gate Arrayer, även känd som FPGA:er, har ökat mycket nyligen på grund av komplexiteten hos algoritmerna, speciellt för vissa datorvisningsalgoritmer. På grund av detta är det ibland inte tillräckligt med hårdvaruresurser i FPGA:n. Partiell omkonfiguration ger oss möjlighet att lösa detta problem. Partiell omkonfigurering är en teknik som kan användas för att omkonfigurera specifika delar av FPGA:n under körtid. Genom att använda denna teknik kan vi minska behovet av programmerbara logiska resurser. Det här mastersprojektet syftar till att utforma ett programvaru-ramverk för partiell omkonfiguration som kan ladda en uppsättning processkomponenter / algoritmer (t.ex. objektdetektering, optiskt flöde, Harris-Corner detection etc) i FPGA- området utan att påverka statiska realtids-komponenter såsom kamerafångst, grundläggande bildfiltrering och färgkonvertering som körs kontinuerligt. Partiell omkonfiguration har tillämpats på två olika videoprocessnings-pipelines, en direkt-strömmande respektive en rambuffert-strömmande arkitektur. Resultatet visar att omkonfigurationstiden är förutsägbar och att partiell omkonfiguration kan användas i realtids-tillämpningar.

Les systèmes adaptatifs basés sur les architectures FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) peuvent bénéficier grandement de la grande flexibilité offerte par la reconfiguration partielle dynamique (DPR). Grâce au DPR, les tâches matérielles composant un système adaptatif peuvent être allouées et re-allouées à la demande ou en fonction de l'environnement dynamique. Les flots de conceptions disponibles et les outils commerciaux ont évolué pour répondre aux exigences des architectures reconfigurables qui sont toutefois limitées dans leurs fonctionnalités. Ces outils ne permettent pas un placement et une relocation efficaces de tâches matérielles de tailles variables. L'objectif principal de ces travaux de thèse consiste à proposer des nouvelles méthodologies et de nouvelles approches pour faciliter au concepteur la phase de conception d'un système adaptatif reconfigurable opérationnelle, valide, optimisé et adapté aux changements dynamiques de l'environnement. La première contribution de cette thèse porte sur la problématique de la relocation des tâches matérielles de tailles différentes. Une méthodologie de conception est proposée pour répondre à un problème majeur des mécanismes de relogement : le stockage d'une unique bitstream de configuration pour réduire les besoins de la mémoire et pour accroître la réutilisable des modules matériels générés. Une technique de partitionnement de la région reconfigurable est appliquée dans la méthodologie de relogement proposée pour augmenter l'efficacité d'utilisation des ressources matérielles dans le cas des tâches reconfigurables de tailles variables. Cette méthodologie prend en compte aussi la communication entre différentes régions reconfigurables et la région statique. Pour valider la méthode, plusieurs études de cas sont implémentées. Cette validation montre une utilisation efficace des ressources matérielles ainsi une réduction importante du temps de reconfiguration. La deuxième partie de cette thèse présente et détaille une formulation mathématique afin d'automatiser le floorplanning des zones reconfigurables dans les FPGAs. Les algorithmes de recherche présentés dans cette thèse sont basés sur la technique d'optimisation PLMNE (programmation linéaire mixte en nombres entiers). Ces algorithmes permettent de définir automatiquement l'emplacement, la taille et la forme de la zone reconfigurable dynamique. Nous nous intéressons principalement dans cette recherche à la satisfaction des contraintes de placement des zones reconfigurables et celles liées à la relocation. De plus, nous considérons l’optimisation des ressources matérielles dans le FPGA en tenant compte des tâches de tailles variables. Finalement, une évaluation de l'approche proposée est présentée / Adaptive systems based on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) architectures can benefit greatly from the high degree of flexibility offered by dynamic partial reconfiguration (DPR). Thanks to DPR, hardware tasks composing an adaptive system can be allocated and relocated on demand or depending on the dynamically changing environment. Existing design flows and commercial tools have evolved to meet the requirements of reconfigurables architectures, but that are limited in functionality. These tools do not allow an efficient placement and relocation of variable-sized hardware tasks. The main objective of this thesis is to propose a new methodology and a new approaches to facilitate to the designers the design phase of an adaptive and reconfigurable system and to make it operational, valid, optimized and adapted to dynamic changes in the environment. The first contribution of this thesis deals with the issues of relocation of variable-sized hardware tasks. A design methodology is proposed to address a major problem of relocation mechanisms: storing a single configuration bitstream to reduce memory requirements and increasing the reusability of generating hardware modules. A reconfigurable region partitioning technique is applied in this proposed relocation methodology to increase the efficiency of use of hardware resources in the case of reconfigurable tasks of variable sizes. This methodology also takes into account communication between different reconfigurable regions and the static region. To validate the design method, several cases studies are implemented. This validation shows an efficient use of hardware resources and a significant reduction in reconfiguration time. The second part of this thesis presents and details a mathematical formulations in order to automate the floorplanning of the reconfigurable regions in the FPGAs. The algorithms presented in this thesis are based on the optimization technique MILP (mixed integer linear programming). These algorithms allow to define automatically the location, the size and the shape of the dynamic reconfigurable region. We are mainly interested in this research to satisfy the constraints of placement of the reconfigurable zones and those related to the relocation. In addition, we consider the optimization of the hardware resources in the FPGA taking into account the tasks of variable sizes. Finally, an evaluation of the proposed approach is presented

L’augmentation de la taille des réseaux actuels ainsi que de la diversité des applications qui les utilisent font que les architectures de calcul traditionnelles deviennent limitées. En effet, les architectures purement logicielles ne permettent pas de tenir les débits en jeu, tandis que celles purement matérielles n’offrent pas assez de flexibilité pour répondre à la diversité des applications. Ainsi, l’utilisation de solutions de type matériel programmable, en particulier les Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), a été envisagée. En effet, ces architectures sont souvent considérées comme un bon compromis entre performances et flexibilité, notamment grâce à la technique de Reconfiguration Dynamique Partielle (RDP), qui permet de modifier le comportement d’une partie du circuit pendant l’exécution. Cependant, cette technique peut présenter des inconvénients lorsqu’elle est utilisée de manière intensive, en particulier au niveau du stockage des fichiers de configuration, appelés bitstreams. Pour palier ce problème, il est possible d’utiliser la relocation de bitstreams, permettant de réduire le nombre de fichiers de configuration. Cependant cette technique est fastidieuse et exige des connaissances pointues dans les FPGAs. Un flot de conception entièrement automatisé a donc été développé dans le but de simplifier son utilisation.Pour permettre une flexibilité sur l’enchaînement des traitements effectués, une architecture de communication flexible supportant des hauts débits est également nécessaire. Ainsi, l’étude de Network-on-Chips dédiés aux circuits reconfigurables et au traitements réseaux à haut débit.Enfin, un cas d’étude a été mené pour valider notre approche. / The increase in both size and diversity of applications regarding modern networks is making traditional computing architectures limited. Indeed, purely software architectures can not sustain typical throughputs, while purely hardware ones severely lack the flexibility needed to adapt to the diversity of applications. Thus, the investigation of programmable hardware, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), has been done. These architectures are indeed usually considered as a good tradeoff between performance and flexibility, mainly thanks to the Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration (DPR), which allows to reconfigure a part of the design during run-time.However, this technique can have several drawbacks, especially regarding the storing of the configuration files, called bitstreams. To solve this issue, bitstream relocation can be deployed, which allows to decrease the number of configuration files required. However, this technique is long, error-prone, and requires specific knowledge inFPGAs. A fully automated design flow has been developped to ease the use of this technique. In order to provide flexibility regarding the sequence of treatments to be done on our architecture, a flexible and high-throughput communication structure is required. Thus, a Network-on-Chips study and characterization has been done accordingly to network processing and bitstream relocation properties. Finally, a case study has been developed in order to validate our approach.