Run - time Adaptable VLIW Processors

To my father and all other members of my family Summary In this dissertation, we propose to combine programmability with reconfig-urability by implementing an adaptable programmable VLIW processor in a reconfigurable hardware. The approach allows applications to be developed at high-level (C language level), while at the same time, the processor organization can be adapted to the specific requirements (both static and dynamic) of different applications. Our proposed customizable VLIW processor called ρ-VEX can be adapted at design-time as well as at run-time. Its instruction set architecture (ISA) is based on the VEX ISA and a toolchain (parametrized C compiler and sim-ulator) is publicly available from Hewlett Packard (HP) for architectural exploration and code generation. The design-time parameters include the pro-cessor's issue-width, the type of different functional units (FUs) and their la-tencies, the type and size of multiported register files, degree of pipelining, size of instruction and data memories, type of interrupt and exception systems, selection of default custom operations, datapath sharing. If the behavior of applications is not known at design-time or an application has different phases with distinct requirements, a fixed processor may not perform efficiently for all the applications/phases. To this end, we propose a run-time reconfigurable processor that can adapt its organization dynamically during execution. The run-time parameters include the processor's issue-width, the type and number of different FUs, and the register file size. Additionally, we propose config-urable fault tolerance techniques for the ρ-VEX processor. The designer can choose to include or exclude the fault tolerance in the processor at design-time. When the fault tolerance is included, it can be made permanently enabled or enabled/disabled at run-time. All these options enable users to trade-off between hardware area/resources, performance, power/energy consumption, and reliability. The processor is available as open-source. i Samenvatting In dit proefschrift stellen we voor om programmeerbaarheid te combineren met reconfigureerbaarheid door het implementeren van een aanpasbare pro-grammeerbare VLIW processor in herconfigureerbare hardware. De aanpak staat het ontwikkelen van toepassingen op hoog niveau (C programmeer taal-niveau) toe, terwijl op hetzelfde moment de processor organisatie kan worden aangepast aan de specifieke eisen (zowel statisch als dynamisch) van verschil-lende toepassingen. Onze voorgestelde aanpasbare VLIW processor, genaamd ρ-VEX, kan tijdens design-time evenals tijdens run-time aangepast worden. De instructie set archi-tectuur (ISA) is gebaseerd op de VEX ISA en een toolchain (geparametriseerde C compiler en simulator) is publiek beschikbaar gesteld door Hewlett Packard (HP) voor architectuur exploratie en code …