REFLIX: a processor core with native support for control-dominated 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 either in terms of their performance constraints or in terms of design implementation and programming. We propose a microprocessor architecture that has native Esterel-like support for reactivity, flexibility of using programs and design styles as used in Esterel programming language for reactive embedded system implementation and provides time-predictable behaviors in reaction to external events. The new processor, called REFLIX, is built around already existing processor core and exploits its flexibility in allowing customization at much higher level than usual microprocessor cores. REFLIX shows manifold improvement in speed and memory footprint in dominantly reactive applications compared to the traditional microprocessors.