General purpose computer architecture based on fully programmable logic

Abstract

We propose a new general-purpose computer architecture based on programmable logic. It consists of a dual-structured array of cells accommodating a fixed “built-in part” and a freely programmable “plastic part”. We call this composition the “Plastic Cell Architecture” (PCA). The built-in part with its fully connective two-dimensional mesh structure serves as a communication platform based on the cellular automata model. It is responsible for the configuration of the plastic part which implements a sea of logic gates similar to programmable devices (FPGA). The key point of our architecture is dynamic, distributed object instantiation during runtime. An object can encapsulate data and/or behavior and communicates with other objects through a unique type of message passing implemented in hardware. Thus, PCA combines the merits of fine grained, high performance hardware implementation and the dynamic memory allocation capabilities of software.