AMAH-Flex: A Modular and Highly Flexible Tool for Generating Relocatable Systems on FPGAs

Abstract

In this work, we present a solution to a common problem encountered when using FPGAs in dynamic, ever-changing environments. Even when using dynamic function exchange to accommodate changing workloads, partial bitstreams are typically not relocatable. So the runtime environment needs to store all reconfigurable partition/reconfigurable module combinations as separate bitstreams. We present a modular and highly flexible tool (AMAH-Flex) that converts any static and reconfigurable system into a 2 dimensional dynamically relocatable system. It also features a fully automated floorplanning phase, closing the automation gap between synthesis and bitstream relocation. It integrates with the Xilinx Vivado toolchain and supports both FPGA architectures, the 7-Series and the UltraScale+. In addition, AMAH-Flex can be ported to any Xilinx FPGA family, starting with the 7-Series. We demonstrate the functionality of our tool in several reconfiguration scenarios on four different FPGA families and show that AMAH-Flex saves up to 80% of partial bitstreams.