REFLIX: A Processor Core for Reactive Embedded Applications

Efficient and reliable interaction with the environment (reactivity) is a key feature for many embedded system applications. Current implementation technologies that include standard microprocessors and microcontrollers, or fully customized systems, are not ideally suited to such reactive tasks. We propose novel microprocessor architecture that has native support for reactivity, with the flexibility to be customized at much higher level than usual microprocessor-based solutions. The proposed microprocessor architecture is an extension of our existing FLIX processor open core. The new processor core, called REFLIX (Reactive FLIX), guarantees at most one instruction cycle delay for priority resolution and preemption and supports design style for reactive applications used in Esterel programming language.