A reconfigurable chip for evolvable hardware

In the recent years, Xilinx devices, like the XC6200, were the preferred solutions for evolving digital systems. In this paper, we present a new System-On-Chip, the POEtic chip, an alternative for evolvable hardware. This chip has been specifically designed to ease the implementation of bio-inspired systems. It is composed of a microprocessor, and a programmable part, containing basic elements, like every standard Field Programmable Gate Array, on top of which sits a special layer implementing a dynamic routing algorithm. Online on-chip evolution can then be processed, as every configuration bit of the programmable array can be accessed by the microprocessor. This new platform can therefore replace the Xilinx XC6200, with the advantage of having a processor inside.