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From Reconfigurability to Evolution in Construction Systems: Spanning the Electronic, Microfluidic and Biomolecular Domains

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Field-Programmable Logic and Applications: The Roadmap to Reconfigurable Computing (FPL 2000)

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Abstract

This paper investigates configurability, reconfigurability and evolution of information processing hardware in conventional and unconventional media. Whereas current electronic systems have an advantage in terms of processing speed, they are at a definite disadvantage in terms of plasticity, true hardware reconfiguration and especially reconfiguration and evolution of the hardware construction system itself. Here molecular computers, including the control of chemical reaction synthesis, hold the promise of being able to achieve these properties. In particular, combinatorially complex families of molecules (such as DNA) can direct their own synthesis. The intermediate level of microfluidic systems is also open to reconfiguration and evolution and may play a vital role in linking up the electronic and molecular processing worlds. This paper discusses opportunities for and advantages of reconfiguration across these various levels and the possibility of integrating these technologies. Finally, the threshold level of construction control required for iterative bootstrapping of nanoscale construction is discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. GMD, German National Research Center for Information Technology, Schloss Birlinghoven, St. Augustin (Bonn), D-53754, Germany

    John S. McCaskill & Patrick Wagler

Authors
  1. John S. McCaskill
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  2. Patrick Wagler
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, University of Kaiserslautern, P. O. Box. 30 49, 67653, Kaiserslautern, Germany

    Reiner W. Hartenstein

  2. Carinthia Tech Institute, Richard-Wagner-Str. 19, 9500, Villach, Austria

    Herbert Grünbacher

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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McCaskill, J.S., Wagler, P. (2000). From Reconfigurability to Evolution in Construction Systems: Spanning the Electronic, Microfluidic and Biomolecular Domains. In: Hartenstein, R.W., Grünbacher, H. (eds) Field-Programmable Logic and Applications: The Roadmap to Reconfigurable Computing. FPL 2000. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1896. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44614-1_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-44614-1_32

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-67899-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-44614-9

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