Operating System Design Challenges for a Reconfigurable Computing Environment

Objective: The primary objective of this proposal is to explore the areas of applications for a Reconfigurable computing system and further to analyze the challenges in designing an Operating System suitable for such a computing environment. Method: In this paper we have discussed at length the issues in designing an operating system which will practically be suitable for a Reconfigurable computing environment. The different challenges faced by an Operatin System in handling the applications executed by a conventional CPU are analysed. The advantages of using the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in Reconfigurable Computing System (RCS) to handle complex applications and to increase the efficiency and throughput of the system are also discussed. Findings: A primary comparison was made with all existing strategies used in Reconfigurable Computing Systems. The inferences obtained from this analysis gave a clear picture that the objective can be achieved by designing a new OS or making some modifications in the kernel of the OS. By achieving this task, multitasking between the applications or processes can be done frequently yielding a far better performance and throughput. The challenges faced by an OS in dealing with the applications executed by the RCS can be eliminated to a greater extent. Improvements: By adopting these kind of designing strategies for the OS in a system with the programmable gate array, there is a considerable improvement and performance of the device also the life span of the device is increased which is considered as most important criteria for any users in computing environment. The new architecture and performance analysis is a research prone area in many of the leading Universities.