Increasing Microprocessor Performance with Tightly-Coupled Reconfigurable Logic Arrays

Conventional approaches to increase the performance of microprocessors often do not provide the performance boost one has hoped for due to diminishing returns. We propose the extension of a conventional hardwired microprocessor with a reconfigurable logic array, integrating both conventional and reconfigurable logic on the same die. Simulations have shown that even a comparatively simple and compact extension allows performance gains of 2–4 times over conventional RISC processors of comparable complexity, making this approach especially interesting for embedded microprocessors.