Fast reconfigurable crossbar switching in FPGAs

Abstract

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and reconfigurable crossbar switches currently represent distinct classes of integrated circuits. There is a need, however, for user-programmable devices that can provide both digital logic and fast, reconfigurable crossbar switching of digital signals within a single package. An investigation into the use of dynamically reconfigurable FPGAs for this purpose demonstrated that these devices can be used for certain classes of applications requiring logic and real-time, reconfigurable switching. The study exposed a number of deficiencies of current architectures and revealed that new FPGAs, with modest architectural enhancements, could achieve better system performance.