Design of Multi-Context Reconfigurable Logic Controllers Implemented in FPGA Devices Oriented for Further Partial Reconfiguration

Abstract

Reconfigurable systems have been recently used in many domains. Although the concept of multi-context logic controllers is relatively new, it may be noticed that the subject is receiving a lot of attention, especially in the industry. The work constitutes a stepping stone in design of reconfigurable logic controllers towards bridging the gap between Petri nets, their decomposition, formal verification and implementation with the use of FPGA structures with the possibility of further partial reconfiguration. The paper proposes a new design concept of reconfigurable logic controllers, implemented with the FPGA device. A logic controller is formally described by a Petri net and decomposed into separate sequential modules. Optional versions (contexts) of the selected module may be prepared additionally. Depending on the needs, a particular module can be replaced by either version (context) with the use of the partial reconfiguration technique. To avoid formal errors and mistakes, the proposed design path is supported by formal verification with the model checking methods based on the rule-based logical model. The proposed design concept has been verified experimentally with the application of Xilinx FPGA devices.