Method, system and software for programming reconfigurable hardware

A system for programming an adaptive computing integrated circuit for a plurality of functions, the adaptive computing integrated circuit having a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements capable of being configured and reconfigured for performance of the plurality of functions, the system comprising:

• means for using a first program construct of a plurality of program constructs to provide for execution of a computational block in parallel by a subset of heterogeneous computational elements of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, wherein the first program construct is capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select, and to provide configuration information to configure, the subset of heterogeneous computational elements for parallel execution of the computational block;
• means for using a second program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for automatic indexing of reference to a buffer object;
• means for using a third program construct of the plurality of program constructs for maintaining a previous value of a variable between process invocations;
• means for using a fourth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for iterations having a predetermined number of iterations at a compile time;
• means for using a fifth program construct to provide for data flow among the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements by defining a channel object having an output data stream from a data producing computational block and an input data stream to a data consuming computational block;
• means for using a sixth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide array accessing with a predetermined address pattern;
• and
• wherein the plurality of program constructs are capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select one or more heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions, and further to provide configuration information to determine a plurality of configurations and reconfigurations of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions.

A tangible medium storing computer readable software for programming an adaptive computing integrated circuit for a plurality of functions, the adaptive computing integrated circuit having a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements capable of being configured and reconfigured for performance of the plurality of functions, the tangible medium storing computer readable software comprising:

• a first program construct of a plurality of program constructs to provide for execution of a computational block in parallel by a subset of heterogeneous computational elements of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, wherein the first program construct is capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select, and to provide configuration information to configure, the subset of heterogeneous computational elements for parallel execution of the computational block;
• a second program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for automatic indexing of reference to a buffer object;
• a third program construct of the plurality of program constructs for maintaining a previous value of a variable between process invocations;
• a fourth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for iterations having a predetermined number of iterations at a compile time;
• a fifth program construct to provide for data flow among the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements by using a channel object having an output data stream from a data producing computational block and an input data stream to a data consuming computational block;
• a sixth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide array accessing with a predetermined address pattern;
• and
• wherein the plurality of program constructs are capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select one or more heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions, and further to provide configuration information to determine a plurality of configurations and reconfigurations of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions.

A method for programming an adaptive computing integrated circuit for a plurality of functions, the adaptive computing integrated circuit having a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements capable of being configured and reconfigured for performance of the plurality of functions,, the method comprising:

• using a first program construct of a plurality of program constructs to provide for execution of a computational block in parallel by a subset of heterogeneous computational elements of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, wherein the first program construct is capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select, and to provide configuration information to configure, the subset of heterogeneous computational elements for parallel execution of the computational block, the first program construct defined as a dataflow command for informing a compiler that included commands are for concurrent performance in parallel;
• using a second program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for data flow among the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements by using a channel object having an output data stream from a data producing computational block and an input data stream to a data consuming computational block, the second program construct further providing for automatic indexing of reference to the channel object, the channel object for providing a buffer for storing data, the second program construct further defined as a stream variable for referencing the channel object;
• using a third program construct of the plurality of program constructs for maintaining a previous value of a variable between process invocations, the third program construct defined as a state variable for maintaining a plurality of previous values of a variable after the variable has been assigned a plurality of current values;
• using a fourth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for iterations having a predetermined number of iterations at a compile time, the fourth program construct defined as an unroll command for transforming a loop operation into a predetermined plurality of individual executable operations;
• using a fifth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide array accessing, the fifth program construct defined as an iterator variable for accessing the array in a predetermined, fixed address pattern;
• using a sixth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for a fixed number of loop iterations at run time, the sixth program construct defined as a loop command for informing a compiler that a plurality of included commands contain no branching to locations outside of the loop and that a plurality of loop conditions are fixed;
• and
• wherein the plurality of program constructs are capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select one or more heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions, and further to provide configuration information to determine a plurality of configurations and reconfigurations of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions.

A tangible medium storing computer readable software for programming an adaptive computing integrated circuit for a plurality of functions, the adaptive computing integrated circuit having a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements capable of being configured and reconfigured for performance of the plurality of functions,, the tangible medium storing computer readable software comprising:

• a first program construct of a plurality of program constructs to provide for execution of a computational block in parallel by a subset of heterogeneous computational elements of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, wherein the first program construct is capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select, and to provide configuration information to configure, the subset of heterogeneous computational elements for parallel execution of the computational block, the first program construct defined as a dataflow command for informing a compiler that included commands are for concurrent performance in parallel;
• a second program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for data flow among the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements by using a channel object having an output data stream from a data producing computational block and an input data stream to a data consuming computational block, the second program construct further providing for automatic indexing of reference to the channel object, the channel object for providing a buffer for storing data, the second program construct further defined as a stream variable for referencing the channel object, wherein the channel object is a buffer instantiated with a declared data type and a size, and wherein the stream variable is declared with a buffer of a plurality of data items of a specified data type;
• a third program construct of the plurality of program constructs for maintaining a previous value of a variable between process invocations, the third program construct defined as a state variable for maintaining a plurality of previous values of a variable after the variable has been assigned a plurality of current values;
• a fourth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for iterations having a predetermined number of iterations at a compile time, the fourth program construct defined as an unroll command for transforming a loop operation into a predetermined plurality of individual executable operations;
• a fifth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide array accessing, the fifth program construct defined as an iterator variable for accessing the array in a predetermined, fixed address pattern;
• a sixth program construct of the plurality of program constructs to provide for a fixed number of loop iterations at run time, the sixth program construct defined as a loop command for informing a compiler that a plurality of included commands contain no branching to locations outside of the loop and that a plurality of loop conditions are fixed;
• and
• wherein the plurality of program constructs are capable of being compiled, mapped and scheduled to select one or more heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions, and further to provide configuration information to determine a plurality of configurations and reconfigurations of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for performance of the plurality of functions.