Exploiting reconfigurability through domain-specific systems

Domain-specific systems represent an important opportunity for FPGA-based systems. They provide a way to exploit the low-level flexibility of the device through the use of domain-specific libraries of specialized circuit elements. Moreover, reconfigurability of the FPGAs is also exploited by reusing these circuit elements to implement a wide variety of applications within the specific domain. Application areas such as image processing, signal processing, graphics, DNA analysis, and other areas are important areas that can use this approach to achieve high levels of performance at reasonable cost. Unfortunately, current CAD tools are a relatively poor match for the design needs of such systems. However, some of the additions listed in this paper should not be too difficult to implement and they would greatly ease the design of such systems.