Fast optical reconfiguration of a nine-context dorga

Demand for fast dynamic reconfiguration has increased since dynamic reconfiguration can accelerate the performance of implementation circuits. Such dynamic reconfiguration requires two important features: fast reconfiguration and numerous contexts. However, fast reconfigurations and numerous contexts share a trade-off relation on current VLSIs. Therefore, optically reconfigurable gate arrays (ORGAs) have been developed to resolve this dilemma. ORGAs can realize a large virtual gate count that is much larger than those of current VLSI chips by exploiting the large storage capacity of a holographic memory. Also, OR- GAs can realize fast reconfiguration through use of large bandwidth optical connections between a holographic memory and a programmable gate array VLSI. Among such developments, we have been developing dynamic optically recon- figurable gate arrays (DORGAs) that realize a high gate density VLSI using a photodiode memory architecture. This paper presents the first demonstration of a nine-context DORGA architecture. Furthermore, this paper presents experimental results: 1.2-8.97us reconfiguration times and 66-221 us retention times.