US 7155602 B2
The present invention describes a method and system for an interface for integrating reconfigurable processors into a general purpose computing system. In particular, the system resides in a computer system containing standard instruction processors, as well as reconfigurable processors. The interface includes a command processor, a command list memory, various registers, a direct memory access engine, a translation look-aside buffer, a dedicated section of common memory, and a dedicated memory. The interface is controlled via commands from a command list that is created during compilation of a user application, or various direct commands.
1. A method for processing command processor commands compiled from a user application, said method comprising the steps of:
storing command lists into an area of common memory;
receiving a fetch command sent by the user application;
fetching a command list from the common memory;
loading the command list into a command list memory within an interface;
processing of the command list;
interacting with user logic to exchange data and control signals;
determining if a second command list is ready for processing; and
wherein if the second command list is ready for processing, processing the second command list in the same method as the command list, and wherein otherwise await a second fetch command.
2. The method of
3. The method of
wherein if the command list length exceeds the length limit, an interrupt is generated and processing of the command list is halted.
4. The method of
5. The method of
terminating the execution of control logic;
saving control state data in dedicated memory;
saving status and control data;
saving translation look-aside data;
if halt request was not received via a direct command, and if interrupts are enabled, sending an interrupt; and
halting further execution.
6. The method of
7. The method of
determining reason for halting execution; and
8. The method of
making necessary changes to parameters in the status and control data, and translation look-aside data;
reloading control state data in dedicated memory;
reloading status and control data;
reloading translation look-aside data;
issuing a continue from saved command; and
9. The method of
reloading control state data in dedicated memory;
reloading status and control data;
reloading translation look-aside data;
issuing a continue command; and
10. The method of
loading a command list;
issuing a direct command to start execution; and
processing the command list.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/286,979 filed Apr. 30, 2001, and entitled “Delivering Acceleration: The Potential for Increased HPC Application Performance Using Reconfigurable Logic,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for interfacing computer processors. In particular, the present invention relates to a computer system interface that provides for the integration of reconfigurable processors with instruction processors and other reconfigurable processors.
1. Discussion of the Related Art
Typical computing systems generally include traditional instruction processors for processing and controlling the instructions and data flow of a typical computer program. Computer instructions can also be implemented with hardware logic. Hardware logic-implemented functions can greatly accelerate the processing of application algorithms over those same algorithms implemented in software. Sections of code such as compute-intensive algorithms, and/or repetitious instructions can benefit from hardware implementation. Although computer instructions implemented in hardware logic run much faster than those implemented in software, hardware logic is much more expensive to design, develop, and manufacture than an average computer application.
Recently reconfigurable processors have been added to computer systems, allowing for the processing of computer software, as well as providing for the hardware implementation of a computer program or code segments. Any piece of code deemed suitable for hardware performance can be segregated from an application program and processed by one or more reconfigurable processors. The remaining code, the code not converted for hardware implementation, is simply processed by the standard instruction processors.
In such hybrid computer systems the computer code is divided into sections, generally during compilation. Depending on optimization requirements these sections of code can then be processed by one or more instruction processors, and/or one or more reconfigurable processors.
Performance enhancements resulting from reconfigurable computing can provide orders of magnitude improvements in speed for a wide variety of computing code. However, the coordination between the instruction processors, reconfigurable processors, main memory, and various other components can degrade these performance improvements. Additionally, the increased number of components necessary to coordinate such a hybrid computer system can add significantly to the overall cost.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an interface for integrating reconfigurable processors with standard instruction processors and/or other reconfigurable processors into a computer system that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
The present invention includes an interface control processor, storage for the interface instructions, data registers, flag registers, user registers, and a direct memory access (“DMA”) processor.
The reconfigurable processor interface is an active interface. The interface takes direction from instruction processors, reconfigurable processors, as well as the user logic within a reconfigurable processor, yet is capable of control and decision making on its own. This active control is defined through a coordinated effort of the various interface registers, specific areas of common memory, the dedicated reconfigurable processor memory, and the user logic of the reconfigurable processor with an interface control program.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism by which the instruction processors communicate and coordinate with arbitrary user logic in reconfigurable processors.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an active control that allows instruction processors and reconfigurable processors to function autonomously.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for moving memory contents between common memory and the dedicated memory of a reconfigurable processor.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a flexible interface that can be defined for arbitrary instruction processor instruction sequences and arbitrary reconfigurable user logic.
Another object of the present invention is to ensure the protected operation of the interface by ensuring that the memory to be referred to is only within the boundaries of a user program.
Another object of the present invention is to provide interaction with a user program without requiring operating system services.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a means for the reconfigurable processor to interact with input/output services.
Another object of the present invention is to divide application programs among instruction processors and reconfigurable processors to achieve optimum performance.
Another object of the present invention is to allow a single-system image to be constructed for a hybrid system of instruction processors and reconfigurable processors.
Another object of the present invention is to allow a single-system image to be constructed for a system of purely reconfigurable processors.
A further object of the present invention is to allow the construction of a cluster of Symmetric Multi-Processor (“SMP”) hybrid nodes or strictly instruction nodes, or reconfigurable processor nodes, or various combinations thereof.
Still a further object of the present invention is to allow instruction processors and reconfigurable processors to be integrated into a single-system image SMP architecture system.
A further object of the present invention is to allow reconfigurable processors to be integrated into a single-system image SMP.
Another object of the present invention is to allow the user logic of the reconfigurable processor to coordinate with the rest of a single-system image SMP system.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the interface for integrating reconfigurable processors into a general purpose computing system provides the ability to coordinate the execution of an application that combines processor code and synthesized logic.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an interface for integrating reconfigurable processors into a general purpose computing system. The interface includes: (1) interface control processor for managing the interaction between the at least one reconfigurable processor and the computer system; (2) interface control processor instructions organized into command lists; (3) random access memory for storing the current command list; (4) registers for storing data and settings; (5) common memory; (6) direct memory access logic for coordinating the transfer of the reconfigurable processor instructions and data; (7) address translation buffer for storing translation data and translating virtual memory addresses to physical memory addresses; and (8) dedicated memory.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a method for processing interface control processor instructions compiled from a user application. This method includes the steps of: (1) storing command lists in a dedicated area of common memory, (2) receiving a fetch command sent by the user application; (3) fetching a command list from the dedicated area; (4) loading the command list into a command list memory within the interface; (5) processing the command list through an interface control processor; (6) interacting with user logic to exchange data and control signals, and (7) determining if another command list is ready for processing, if so, processing the new command list; otherwise, waiting for another fetch command.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The present invention integrates a computer's instruction processors, common memory, and reconfigurable processors, referred to in the preferred embodiment as Multi-Adaptive Processors (“MAPs”). Through the coordinated effort of the various hardware and software components of the interface with common memory, instruction processor, and MAPs the present invention provides for the interaction of instruction processors and reconfigurable processors providing enhanced performance to a computer system.
Each MAP 12 also includes user-configured logic known as the user array 60. The user array of the present example contains two large Field Programmable Gate Arrays (“FPGAs”), referred to as user logic (“U_Logic”) 62 1–62 2. During compilation the sections of code determined to be suitable for optimization through a hardware implementation, such as discrete algorithmic sections, are segregated out of the program code. The algorithmic sections of code from the application program are converted to provide hardware logic circuits within the user logic 62 1–62 2.
Through the use of an interface control program, including a command list, known as the ComList, the command processor 42 processes commands, makes control decisions, and manages the transfer of data. A ComList is also generated during compilation of the user application. A ComList is used for controlling a MAP 12 or MAPs 12 1–12 N (
Common memory addresses specified by commands or generated by user applications are virtual addresses. Addresses are translated, virtual to physical, by TLB 45 entries with the DMA controller 44.
Three sets of registers, data registers 46, user data registers 48, and flag registers 47, are also used to help coordinate the processing of interface instructions. Data registers 46 consist of thirty-two, 64-bit registers known as DR0 through DR31. These registers are generally used to hold addresses for both common memory 18 (
User data registers 48 are thirty-two registers of 64 bits known as UDR0 through UDR31. User data can be sent directly from the ComList to the user array 60 without going through the data registers 46. A group of user data registers 48 can be loaded from the ComList. When the last user data register of the group is loaded the user array 60 is interrupted. The user array 60 must understand the protocol by which user data registers 48 need to be read.
Flag registers 47 are thirty-two single-bit registers FR0 through FR31. Commands can test and wait on the state of flag registers 47 before execution. Commands can change the state of flag registers 47, forcing them set and clear. In addition, there are logical instructions that allow combining flag states (AND, OR, XOR). Other commands allow testing and branching on their contents. For control purposes FR0 is always 0/clear and FR1 is always 1/set. Neither of these registers can be overwritten.
The purpose of the flag registers 47 is to support coordination between different operations. For example, the user logic can coordinate loading and executing a new ComList by setting a specified flag register. A command can test the flag register and then branch to the end of the ComList, indicating that the next ComList may be loaded. As a further example, the user logic can coordinate movement of data in or out of on-board memory 50 using flag registers and data registers. A DMA instruction can be held waiting for a flag register to be set. The user logic can write addresses and length into data registers, and then set a specified flag register, allowing the DMA instruction to execute the movement of data. When the DMA completes, another flag register can be set to indicate to the user logic that data movement is complete.
An additional register visible in the MAP is the ComList pointer 49. This register is saved as part of the MAP status and indicates the index of the next command dispatched in the active ComList. When a MAP is halted the pointer indicates the next command to be executed if execution is restarted.
On-board memory 50 consists of six banks of dual port 512K×64-bit static random access memory (“RAM”) providing a total of 24 MB of available memory. Both the DMA controller 44 and the command processor 42 communicate with the on-board memory 50 via the six control-side ports 52. The user array 60 communicates with the on-board memory 50 through the six user-side ports 54.
The user array 60 portion of a MAP 12 is configured as a hardware implementation of the algorithmic requirements of the user application. The user array 60 reads from, and writes to, on-board memory 50 through six user-side ports 54 and can interact with the control logic and the DMA controller 44.
DMA operations within the interface of a MAP 12 run more or less independently of processing within a user's logic. Coordination between these control streams is through the use of the flag registers 47, data registers 46 and user data registers 48.
The DMA controller 44 is initiated by a DMA ComList instruction. The user array 60 writes an address and length into the data registers 46 and sets a flag register 47. The ComList awaits the user array's signal, setting of the flag register, and then executes a DMA instruction that references the data registers 46 that have been setup by the user array. The DMA controller 44 can then signal its completion by setting or clearing a flag register 47 that the user array is monitoring.
The FPGAs, user logic 62 1 and 62 2, of the user array 60 are configured during a fetch configuration command from data in common memory and not from an on-board programmable read only memory (“PROM”). User logic 62 1 and 62 2 communicate between themselves using three dedicated 64-bit data buses 66 without using any memory bandwidth. MAP modules can also be connected together via a chaining data bus 64. Through the use of chaining ports 64 a particular MAP can send partial results to another MAP, or similarly, can receive such partial results from another MAP. The user array 60 provides all logic for the chaining ports 64. In a preferred embodiment, the chaining ports 64 use Double Data Rate (“DDR”) protocol that allows each data line to carry two bits of information. This provides for two chain input ports and two chain output ports. In an alternate embodiment without a DDR protocol only single input and output ports would be available on each MAP. Chaining data flow is basically unidirectional, while the three onboard inter-connecting data buses 66 are bi-directional.
Full system interrupt and semaphore capability is available between MAPs 12 0–12 N (
FR31 provides a specific system interrupt mechanism. When FR31 is set, MAP status is stored in its status and control area and an interrupt is generated. This status operation is conditional on an interrupt enable flag taken from a control word in the status and control area. In all cases, if FR31 sets, MAP execution attempts to halt. For this reason, internally 10 detected errors set FR31.
A Stop switch is provided to add flexibility with handling interrupts sent to a MAP. During normal operation a MAP will run with Stop enabled. This mode allows execution to halt when the MAP is interrupted. However, for diagnostic and debugging purposes, a MAP can run in a Stop disabled mode, providing the MAP with the ability to continue execution of a program, even when it has been interrupted.
Stopping/halting MAP execution can result from several sources. In all cases this requires setting or attempting to set FR31. When there is an attempt to set FR31 either directly, or indirectly, and Stop is enabled, execution of the MAP is halted.
The MAPs interface is controlled by commands in the ComList or direct commands issued by an instruction processor or another MAP. During compilation an application generates code for the standard instruction processor, ComLists for the MAP's interface, and hardware logic for the MAP's user array. ComLists are generated by the user application in order to coordinate data movement and control between the application code running in the instruction processor, and application logic running in the MAP's user array. Commands in the ComList correspond directly to instructions in a reduced instruction set computer (“RISC”) processor. These instructions are a small set of simple instructions for moving data, testing conditions, and branching. FPGA control processors can be reconfigured to function with various instruction sets, depending upon implementation needs.
Each MAP 12 (
The first word in each ComList is the ComList Length Command that defines the total number of command words in the buffer. For example, if there were only one additional command in the ComList, the first word, the Length Command, would have the value 2. This indicates that the ComList contains the length command word plus one additional command word.
Each ComList is a maximum of 496 words in length, reserving the upper portion of the ComList memory area 43 (
If the command processor 42 (
ComList commands are either 8 bytes or 16 bytes long. All commands, except certain direct commands, are fetched by the DMA controller 44 (
If the command processor 42 (
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention the data fields in the first 8 bytes of a ComList command are structured in the following manner:
The ComList Length Command is the first command in each ComList and is always located at address 0 of the ComList. The Length Command provides the total number of command and immediate data words contained in that particular ComList. The value in field (hh) may range from 2 to 496 words. A value of 2 would indicate that only the ComList Length Command is present plus one command word. A value of 496 is the max number of command words that can be used in the buffer. This max limit allows scratchpad room at the top of the 512-word buffer for status and control information.
When the command processor 42 (
Valid data for the fields of a ComList Length Command is as follows:
Direct Memory Access Commands move data between common memory 18 (
Stride or gather/scatter address sequences can be specified as on-board memory addresses. The stride or gather/scatter address offsets are sized indexes. This means that stride or gather/scatter indexes are multiplied by the operand stream data size (8 bytes) before being added to a specified base address. Stride and gather/scatter indexes can be negative. Overflow will not be detected. For gather/scatter operations, the index list is taken from on-board memory 50 (
Valid data for the fields of a Direct Memory Access Command is as follows:
Data in on-board memory can have the address reference sequence specified with a stride or with a sequence of gather/scatter addresses. The register DRee defines the stride and the format of the stride definition is as follows:
The modulus field controls the number of banks in the bank sequence. A zero modulus indicates one bank in the bank sequence. A value 15 indicates a 16 bank sequence. The bank sequence has 16 fields of bank numbers. The bank numbers range from 0 to 7, where bank 7 is a no operation (“NOP”) bank, meaning data will be discarded on a “write” and zero filled on a “read”. The stride field provides an increment for addresses in on-board memory. The address is incremented by the stride value after all banks in the sequence are addressed.
For gather/scatter operations, the gather/scatter indexes are 32-bit/4-byte quantities taken from on-board memory. Each index is added, sign-extended, to the address base in DRcc, after having been multiplied/shifted by the operand size.
The address in register DRaa is a byte address. The address in register DRcc is a word address that specifies addresses in individual banks of on-board memory. The striding and striping of the bank references is controlled by the content of the DRee register when b-field=0.
For DRaa, at least the bottom 50 bits of the address specifier must be valid. For DRcc, the number of address bits that must be valid is implementation dependent.
All common memory addresses are virtual and are translated using translation look-aside buffers loaded from a MAP's status and control page. On-board memory addresses are physical and are not modified or translated.
The direct memory access command, according to parameters c and bb, sets or clears a flag register when the last specified data has been moved. For writes, this is done when the last data has been read from on-board memory and is on its way to common memory 50 (
This command does not support waiting on a flag register value. If this is necessary, a DMA Flag Set command with the parameter fields set to wait for the needed value is available.
If ee=0 or (ee)=0, all data from common memory 18 (
It is intended that DMA functions be issued as quickly as is reasonably possible for an implementation and with maximum parallelism. One operation does not have to complete before another is started unless wait commands are placed between operations, allowing multiple DMA operations to be processing simultaneously.
The DMA Flag Set Command sets Flag register bits. It can do this when the DMA Flag Set command becomes available for issue or the command can wait for some DMA activity to be completed. This allows synchronization of the data movement of the DMA with the execution of a flag command. This command can also be followed with U_Data commands if it is desired to transfer command or data parameters to the user array after a DMA operation is complete.
The DMA Flag Set Command is a two word command. The first word contains the command data and the second word contains immediate values for the flag register (i.e. bit2 is applied to FR2, bit3 to FR3 . . . , bit31 to FR31).
Valid data for a DMA Flag Set Command is as follows:
If a=1 then issuance of this command is held until all DMA read activities have ceased. Similarly, if b=1 then issuance of the command is held until DMA writes have been sent to common memory. If multiple bits, including the Wait flag bb are active, all conditions must be true to issue the command.
Any flag register that corresponds to a 1 bit in the mm field is set to a 1. Any flag register that corresponds to a 0 bit is not changed. The command lets the completion of a DMA action set any of the selected flag registers.
Register-to-Register Data Register Arithmetic/Logic Commands do register-to-register integer add and subtract operations, and OR, AND, and XOR bitwise logical operations.
Valid data for the Register-to-Register Data Register Arithmetic/Logic Commands is as follows:
For subtractions, DRcc is the minuend and DRdd is the subtrahend. Arithmetic operations are as follows: DRee←DRcc±DRdd. Bitwise logical operations are as follows: DRee←DRcc OR/AND/XOR DRdd. Overflow is not detected.
Immediate Data Register Arithmetic/Logic Commands add, subtract, OR, AND, or XOR 64-bit immediate values to Data Registers. The Immediate Data Register Arithmetic/Logic Command is a two-word command. The first word contains the command data and the second word contains the 64-bit immediate value.
Valid data for an Immediate Data Register Arithmetic/Logic Command is as follows:
Single Data Register Load/Store Commands allow for a single Data register to be loaded from or stored to on-board memory. All 8 bytes are moved.
Valid data for Single Data Register Load/Store Commands is as follows:
The contents of DRee are loaded or stored according to the a parameter. The on-board memory address referred to is DRcc+DRdd. Overflow is not detected.
Multiple Data Register Load/Store Commands are two-word commands using 32-bit immediate values. The first word contains the command data and the second word contains immediate values for the data registers (i.e. bit2 is applied to DR2, bit3 to DR3 . . . , bit31 to DR31). Any of the data registers can be moved to/from on-board memory. Each 1 bit in the immediate value enables the corresponding data register to be loaded or stored. Each Data register that has a corresponding 0 bit is ignored. The data in on-board memory is packed/compressed. (For example, if the immediate value has only two 1 bits corresponding to DR3 and DR10 and the on-board memory address is 1000 in a store operation, then DR3 is stored in on-board memory in word 1000 and DR10 is stored in 1001.)
Valid Data for Multiple Data Register Load/Store Commands is as follows:
Data Register Branch Command tests a data register for a zero/nonzero state. If the test is successful, a branch to the specified command in the ComList is taken; otherwise the next command in the ComList is executed.
Valid data for a Data Register Branch Command is as follows:
The value in the hh field is an 8-byte word index from the start of a MAP's ComList. For example, if hh=0, this would specify a branch to the first word of the ComList, the ComList length, which would be an invalid command to execute. Valid command addresses would be 1 through 495 providing that it is a command word and not an immediate data address. All bits in hh must be valid otherwise execution is undefined.
A further embodiment of this command, and the similar Flag Register Branch, would allow for subroutine calls and returns.
Register-to-Register Flag Register Logic Commands perform logic operations on the Flag registers.
Valid data for a Register-to-Register Flag Register Logic Command is as follows:
Three of the Flag Registers have special values or functions. FR0 is always 0/clear, and FR1 is always a 1/set. If FR31 sets, and interrupts are enabled, an interrupt and halt is generated after control logic idles down command execution and stores status to the MAP's status and control area. If FR31 is set when a command attempts to set it again, no further or secondary interrupt is generated from the attempt to set the Flag, but the interrupt Cause Bits are saved in MAP status. Setting FR31 will always halt MAP execution.
Immediate Flag Register Logic commands perform logic operations on all 32 Flag registers at the same time. Each bit of the immediate value in the command is logically combined with the respective Flag Register with results written back to each register bit. Bits 0 and 1 of the immediate value (bits 32 and 33 of the command) are ignored as FR1 and FR1 are constant values. This command is similar to a DMA Flag Set command with the exception that the DMA wait bits are set to 0.
Valid data for the Immediate Flag Register Logic command is as follows:
The commands let any group of Flag registers, from the complete set down to no registers (a NOP), be cleared, set, or toggled.
Flag Register Branch A FR is tested for zero/nonzero. If the test is successful branch to the specified command in ComList, otherwise execute the next command in the list.
Valid data for the Flag Register Branch Command is as follows:
The value in the hh field is an 8-byte word index from the start of a MAP's ComList. For example, if hh=0 this would specify a branch to the first word of the ComList, the ComList length, which would be an invalid command to execute. Valid command addresses would be 1 through 495 providing that it is a command word and not an immediate data address. All bits in hh must be valid; otherwise execution is undefined.
DR Data U_Data Command sends command and parameter information from a specified data register to the user array. It is up to the logic that receives the data to interpret it as needed. This command transfers data from the DR defined in field dd to the User_Register defined in field cc. There are up to 32 user registers that are contained in a section of RAM above where the Data Registers are located. The User Registers differ from the Data Registers in being unidirectional from the control logic to the user array. When the ComList has filled the desired number of User Registers, it should set the Last Transfer bit in field f indicating that this is the last User Register of the group to be transferred. A user register available signal is raised and is available to the user logic when field f is set to indicate tht the last user register is transferred. It is up to the user array to know which registers need to be fetched. For example, it may be that only User Register00 is used. Or, possibly, only the first four user registers are used. Another possible protocol is that the User Register00 contains a bit set for each of the user registers to be fetched. The particular U_Logic algorithm implemented defines the User Register protocol.
Valid data for a Data Register U13 Data Command is as follows
Immediate Data U_Data Command is a 16-byte command that sends command and parameter information from an immediate value in the command to the user array. It is up to the logic that receives the data to interpret it as needed. This command transfers immediate data to the User_Register defined in field cc. There are up to 32 User Registers that are contained in a section of RAM above where the Data Registers are located. The User Registers differ from the Data Registers in being unidirectional from the control logic to the user array. When the ComList has filled the desired number of User Registers, it should set the Last Transfer bit in field f to indicate this is the last User Register of the group transferred. A user register available signal is raised and is available to the user logic when field f is set to indicate tht the last user register is transferred. It is up to the user array to know which registers need to be fetched. For example, it may be that only User Register00 is used. Or, possibly, only the first four User Registers are used. Another possible protocol is that the User Register00 contains a bit set for each of the user registers to be fetched. The particular U_Logic algorithm that is implemented defines the protocol used.
Valid data for an Immediate Data U_Data Command is as follows:
U_Data commands/parameters can be sent after the execution of the command DMA Flag Set. Up to thirty-two 64-bit immediate values can be sent from either Data Registers or the second immediate data words. It is up to the receiving user array to read and interpret the information sent. In turn, the user array can send Flag information back to the Flag Registers. Flag information can be returned without having been solicited by other commands. Thus, the user array can indicate that an internal user array action is complete and that it is time to start an external action, such as starting a DMA sequence to store a result. The user array can also request an interrupt by setting FR31. An interrupt request from the user array is processed the same as if the interrupt came from any other source (data error, ComList command, Illegal instruction, etc.).
DMA activity can also interact with the user array. The DMA Flag Set command can be followed with U_Data commands. With multiple ways to control the Flag Registers and given that all commands can test the Flag Registers, coordinated interaction is easily done between all three elements of MAP: user array, DMA and other ComList processing.
Fetch Configuration Data Command requests that the DMA move an FPGA configuration block of data between common memory and the MAP. The Fetch Configuration Data Command must be the last command in a ComList.
Valid data for a Fetch Configuration Data Command is as follows:
After the command issues, the command processor and the DMA will go into a special non-interruptible mode until the FPGA is configured. During configuration normal ComList commands will not be fetched or executed from the ComList area of common memory. After the data is loaded, the user FPGAs are checked for proper configuration. When the FPGA has been properly configured, a status indication and interrupt will be returned to the processor indicating that the MAP is returning to normal operation.
Direct Commands are sent directly to a MAP from an instruction processor or another MAP, therefore they are not included in a ComList. These commands give a real-time and direct control to meet operating system needs, and driver requirements. Direct commands have no parameters.
Direct commands of the preferred embodiment of the present invention are as follows:
With the exception of the Initialize, Stop, Fetch0 and Fetch1 commands, which can be given at any time, the other direct commands are valid only if the MAP is stopped. An Initialize command must be done after system power-up and before anything else is done with/to a MAP.
Stopping/halting MAP execution can result from several sources. In all cases this requires setting or attempting to set FR31. When there is an attempt to set FR31 either directly, as with the ComList DMA Flag Set command, or indirectly, as with the direct Stop command, or as a result of some internal error, execution of the MAP is halted.
Upon any halt or exception, with Stop enabled, the following occurs:
1) MAP control logic comes to the most graceful halt it can, waiting for execution logic to go quiet.
2) Control state is saved in on-board memory addresses 0–31. This state includes everything needed to continue execution, for example from a TLB/Page Table miss. This area in on-board memory is reserved for this use.
3) Status is stored into the MAP's status and control area in its Base page.
4) The MAP's TLB registers are stored into the TLB area of its Base page.
5) If the stop did not come from a direct command, and if interrupts are enabled, an interrupt is sent.
6) The MAP unit halts.
If Stop is not enabled, the sequence above is executed except that in the last step the command that caused the error is abandoned and execution continues.
To continue execution after execution halts:
1) Make any necessary changes to the MAP's parameters in the status and control area, including the TLB entries.
2) Determine if processing is to continue from the interrupted command, the next command or from another command sequence.
3) If continuing execution of the instruction that caused the halt, reload parameters (Load Parameter Set) and then Continue from Saved.
4) If the Halt was not caused by an error or TLB miss (so that no instruction is partially executed) and the status and control parameters do not require changing or updating, then the direct command Continue can be sent to the MAP.
5) If a new sequence is to be started (for example, a new user or the current user with different commands), make sure the proper command sequence is stored in ComList starting at ComList zero, issue Direct commands to load parameters and Start execution.
Execution of the direct commands Start, Continue, or Continue From Saved clears FR31 but does not clear the status register. Software must do that, if needed or wanted, before parameters are reloaded (step above).
When MAP execution is halted, status is stored in the MAP's status and control area. Status consists of several registers as listed below. The 8-byte Index column shows the address offset from the start of a MAP's status and control area as an 8-byte word index.
Several control parameters are stored in a MAP's status and control area. Bits not shown in the following table must be zero.
Contu on Error should normally be used only in a diagnostic or maintenance mode. The expected defaults for Bit Parameters 0, 1, and 2 are the zero-values. The Interrupt ID parameter need not be valid if interrupts are disabled. Page Table Base must be valid and point to an end-of-table entry.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the interface for integrating reconfigurable processors without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided that they come within the scope of any claims and their equivalents.