Processor Reconnguration through Instruction Set Metamorphosis: Compiler and Architecture

Many computationally-intensive tasks spend nearly all of their execution time within a small fraction of the executable code. A new hardware/software system, called PRISM, is presented which improves the performance of many of these computationally intensive tasks by utilizing information extracted at compile-time to synthesize new operations which augment the functionality of a core processor. By integrating adaptation into a general-purpose computer, one can not only reap the performance beneets of application-speciic processors, but also retain the general-purpose nature by accommodating a wide variety of tasks. Newly synthesized operations are targeted to RAM-based logic devices which provide a mechanism for fast processor reconnguration. A proof-of-concept system called PRISM-I, consisting of a specialized C connguration compiler and a reconng-urable hardware platform is presented. Compilation and performance results are provided which connrm the concept viability, and demonstrate signiicant speed-up over conventional general-purpose architectures.