[Coco] A faster "Real" CoCo

[jdaggett at gate.net]

On 18 Jan 2008 at 22:05, Joel Ewy wrote:

> In fact, I believe it's possible, at least with some FPGAs, to
> dynamically reconfigure the logic array while running.  If that's the
> case, one could even swap functional units in and out and reconfigure
> the hardware as needed.  Even if you have to reset the computer in
> order to give it an organ transplant, one major virtue of an FPGA is
> that the hardware specifications don't have to be set in stone.
> 
> JCE

Joel

As Mark stated yes there are partially reconfigurable FPGAs out there. But I doubt there is 
any that will be in the price range of any project considered here on this group. The high end 
Virtex4 and 5 FPGAs are definitely out of the range of what most would want to pay. Some 
concerns have been expressed when costs reach $300. The ML505 development board for 
the Virtex 5 is $1200. 

A better way would be to split into multiple FPGAs so  that one master FPGA can write to 
the configuration PROM of another and then do a power on reset. Then some form of 
dynamic reconfiguration could be achieved. It complicates the system a bit and maybe 
costs. 

james