Xilinx 01 (2000-04)

Title: Reconfigurable cores for wireless appliances
Research Engineer: Edward Brown
Sponsor: Xilinx
Academic Supervision: Dr James Irvine, University of Strathclyde

Communications is one of the principal technology drivers for the whole silicon industry, and for FPGAs especially. However, this market is characterised by uncertainty arising from the lack of standardisation for next generation mobile handsets, the continual evolution of new multimedia services and the emergence of entirely new products. Additionally, further change and greater complexity are what the industry expects for the foreseeable future. In this context, reconfigurable FPGAs should thrive. The goal of the research project is to investigate new opportunities within wireless appliances to exploit the reconfigurability of FPGAs as a key, product-differentiating feature.

Firstly, reconfigurable cores that will be of immediate value will be developed. Real-time adaptation of channel codes is proposed to optimise the data transmissions and reception algorithms to the channel characteristics dynamically. This will provide an initial, practical impetus to the project while a concurrent exploration of the most promising areas for further investigation is conducted.

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