Adaptive Real-Time Systems and the FPAA

Abstract

Adaptive real-time systems are often typically considered by design engineers to be a solely digital preserve. However, in recent years analogue technologies such as the Field programmable Analogue Array (FPAA) have been developed to support real-time reconfiguration. These technologies can offer an analogue platform for a vast number of applications requiring adaptive processing and form the subject of this paper. Although in terms of their technology and software/algorithmic support, FPAAs are still in the relative infancy compared with digital techniques, we aim to show their advantages and how present devices can be exploited in real-time applications.