PATENT DOCUMENT

Abstract:
The present invention relates to data access to a built-in memory or a peripheral circuit from any of ALU cells provided in the array state, and provides a semiconductor integrated circuit having an access mechanism enabling size reduction in the hardware scale and improvement in the usability.  
     There are provided dedicated cell groups  1304, 1306  for executing memory access processing to built-in memories  1313, 1312  in a plurality of ALU cells. Further there are provided dedicated cell groups  1304, 1306  enabling access commonly available for built-in memories to a peripheral circuit  1201  or LSI external device  206.  By providing dedicated cell groups for memory access processing to built-in memories, the ALU cell does not require a memory access mechanism, which enables reduction of an area and improvement in efficiency in use. Further access common to the built-in memories or peripheral circuits is possible, which enables improvement in the usability.

Full Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY  
       [0001]     The present application claims priority from Japanese application JP 2004-292056, filed on Oct. 5, 2005, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit and to an LSI and two-dimensional ALU cell array capable of implementing various types of processing by dynamically changing the processing function and configuration data for data transfer. In particular, the invention relates to a method of data access with a built-in memory, a peripheral circuit, and an LSI external device by the ALU cell array and to a circuit used therefor.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Arts  
         [0005]     Performance of a semiconductor integrated circuit has been improved by increasing the number of transistors which can be integrated on a chip as indicated by the Moore&#39;s Law. However, increase in the number of transistors results in increase in circuit information implemented in a mask, so that the mask cost has been increasing year by year. Further also enlargement in a scale of a designed circuit results in increase in the number of required mask sheets, which causes a steep rise of ASIC development cost. Further in association with diversification of needs, mass production of a few types of products has shifted to small-lot production of various types of products, and also the product trend changes within a short period of time, which requires shortening of a period of time required for development of each product.  
         [0006]     Recently a reconfigurable processor has been proposed as a technique for solving the problems as described above. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-76883, a reconfigurable processor has a number of processing units each having the versatility enabling various types of operations and switching units capable of flexibly switching connection between the processing units and can implement various circuits by switching the configuration data which is control information for the units above. As described above, because the reconfigurable processor is a programmable processor like an FPGA, the initial development cost and a period required for development thereof can be reduced and shortened as compared to those for ASIC. Further the reconfigurable processor ensures the high processing performance by reducing a freedom degree in wiring and making coarser the fineness of operations. Further a dynamic reconfigurable processor has been proposed for executing the processor by dynamically switching the configuration. Because the dynamic reconfigurable processor can implement a number of operations on a chip, performance per area is improved and thereby the influence on unit price of a chip, which is problematic in the FPGA, can be reduced.  
         [0007]     Generally a reconfigurable processor has a number of ALU cells in the processing unit, and realizes improvement of the processing performance by making the ALU cells operate in parallel spacially and concurrently. As a result, the performance is limited in data supply as compared to the conventional type of processors. To overcome the problems, a small-scale memory is incorporated therein to improve the performance for data transfer by accessing thereto from the ALU cell. The example will be described in “NIKKEI Electronics” No. 835, pp. 59-66, 2002. 11. 18.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     A reconfigurable processor generally has a processing unit with multi-functional ALU cells provided on a two-dimensional array. Because the parallelism of ALU cells is high in this structure, a method of interconnection between ALU cells and between an ALU cell and a built-in memory gives severe influence over the processing performance.  
         [0009]     As a method of the interconnection as described above, in some cases, a plurality of ALU cells and built-in memories are connected with a bus, and in another example a bus is not provided and data transfer is performed between adjoining ALU cells or between an ALU cell and a built-in memory. In the configuration using a bus, the bus area is very large, generally the number of ALU cells or built-in memories connected to a bus is limited, or a part of connection is limited between adjoining ALU cells or between a ALU cell and a built-in memory.  
         [0010]     There are the following common problems in all of the configurations described above. Generally the ALU cells have the common structure and are therefore scalable, but also an ALU cell not adjoining a bus nor a memory and not capable of executing memory access requires a larger area when the ALU cell has a memory access mechanism. An ALU cell adjoining a bus or a memory is frequently used for memory access, so that the processing function can not effectively be utilized.  
         [0011]     To solve the problems as described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a memory access mechanism enabling reduction of an area of the processing unit and effective use thereof.  
         [0012]     Further the present invention enables improvement in usability by configuring the memory access mechanism commonly available by a peripheral circuit and an LSI external device connected to a dedicated IO interface.  
         [0013]     Brief descriptions of outlines of the representative inventions disclosed in this patent application are provided below. That is a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the present invention has ALU cells arranged in the array state; a processing unit with a function for data transfer between the ALU cells; built-in memories arranged around and inside the processing unit; and a group of dedicated cells for executing memory access to any of the built-in memories, and in the semiconductor circuit, the operating unit and the group of dedicated cells have a storage area for dynamically specifying the configuration data respectively.  
         [0014]     Preferably, a plurality of the dedicated cell groups exist in association with a plurality of ALU cells in the processing unit present in the closest position to the built-in memory, and execute an operand access to the built-in memory.  
         [0015]     Preferably, a plurality of the built in memories exist in association with a plurality of the ALU cells in the processing unit, have a single contiguous address space in response to a memory access from the outside of the semiconductor integrated circuit, and have respective address spaces in response to a memory access from the processing unit.  
         [0016]     Preferably, a plurality of the dedicated cell groups exist in association with a plurality of the built-in memories, and execute an operand access uniquely in association with each of the memory accesses.  
         [0017]     Preferably, the dedicated cell groups include the built-in memory; a peripheral device with a dedicated IO interface connected to the semiconductor integrated circuit; and a data access mechanism commonly available to an LSI external device connected with a dedicated IO interface connected to the semiconductor integrated circuit; wherein the dedicated IO interface has a memory area for dynamically specifying a destination for connection thereof.  
         [0018]     With the present invention, an area of a semiconductor integrated circuit can be reduced. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is a view showing usage and positioning of an in-vehicle software defined radio according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the software defined radio according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a view showing second structure of a preprocessing section of the software defined radio according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a dynamic reconfiguration (DR) chip according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a DRE according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing an ALUAE according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIGS. 7A  to  7 C are views showing general configuration of a setting register in the ALUAE according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIGS. 8A  to  8 C are block diagrams showing a control/status register in an AECTL according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0027]      FIG. 9  is a block diagram showing a control/status register in a CNFGC according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0028]      FIG. 10  is a view showing configuration data in the case where the filtering processing is executed by using an ALU cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0029]      FIG. 11  is a block diagram showing the ALU cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]      FIG. 12  is a block diagram showing a configuration register in the ALU cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0031]      FIG. 13  is a view showing an interface between an LS cell and an ALU cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0032]      FIG. 14  is a block diagram showing an IO block according to one embodiment of the present invention and an IOCTL as a component of the IO block;  
         [0033]      FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing a configuration register of an LS cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0034]      FIG. 16  is a block diagram showing a configuration register of an IOCTL according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0035]      FIG. 17  is a view showing an ALUAE and an external data access mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention and positioning of an EXIOS;  
         [0036]     FIGS.  18  are block diagrams showing a configuration register in the EXIOS according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0037]      FIG. 19  is a view showing an example of setting of the configuration register for access from the LS cell according to one embodiment of the present invention to a local memory;  
         [0038]      FIG. 20  is a view showing configuration of the LS cell according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0039]      FIG. 21  is a view showing an example of setting of a configuration register for access from the LS cell, IO port, EXIOS each according to the present invention to a WCE;  
         [0040]      FIG. 22  is a view showing operations when the LS cell, IO port, and EXIOS each according to the present invention access the WCE;  
         [0041]      FIG. 23  is a view showing an example of setting of the configuration register for access from the LS cell, IO port, EXIOS each according to one embodiment of the present invention to an ADC/DAC;  
         [0042]      FIG. 24  is a view showing operations when the LS cell, IO port, EXIOS each according to one embodiment of the present invention access the ADC/DAC;  
         [0043]      FIG. 25  is a view showing operations when the LS cell, IO port, EXIOS each according to one embodiment of the present invention access the ADC/DAC for reading out data written therein from the ADC/DAC; and  
         [0044]      FIG. 26  is a view showing configuration of a memory controller according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0045]     A representative embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to related drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a software defined radio constituting a telematics terminal. In a software defined radio, the communication system must be switched according to an object of communication or to the environment for operations, and therefore the software defined radio is suitable for an application of a reconfigurable LSI (dynamic reconfigurable circuit). In the following descriptions, the same reference numerals and same signs indicate the same or similar components respectively.  
         [0046]      FIG. 1  is a view showing an example of a telematics terminal  104  mounted in a vehicle  100 , and this example indicates a system application of a software defined radio  106  constituting a telematics terminal. The software defined radio as used herein indicates a radio in which the specifications not changeable in the conventional technology are changed by software.  
         [0047]     In the software defined radio, when the radio specifications are changed in the future, or when required optimal radio specifications change during running in relation to positional relations with radio stations  101  or  102  or according to the situation of electric wave, the radio specifications can flexibly be changed in response to changes in the radio specifications. The radio specifications to be changed include, for instance, those for a radio LAN, an ETC (DSRC), a terrestrial DTV communication, and the like.  
         [0048]     Descriptions are provided below for structure of the software defined radio, and positioning, structure, and usage of a DR chip using a dynamic reconfigurable circuit.  
         [0000]     1. Structure of a software defined radio and positioning of a DR chip  
         [0049]     In  FIG. 1 , the telematics terminal  104  administrates processing for video or audio information in a car navigation system  107 , and uses a software defined radio system  106  for transmitting data to the car navigation system  107 . A standard data communication interface such as a USB is used as an interface  108  between the car navigation system  107  and the software defined radio  106 .  
         [0050]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing internal structure of the software defined radio  106 . Radio data passes through an analog processing unit  202  and is converted to digital data, and the digital data is processed in a dynamic reconfigurable chip (DR chip)  203 , and the processed digital data is transferred via the interface  108  to the car navigation system  107 . When data is transmitted, the data is transferred through the same path, but in the reverse direction. The DR chip can change the circuit configuration in response to an operation to be executed by changing the configuration data during the actual operations. In this embodiment, the DR chip can be used for both data receiving and data transmission by switching the circuit configuration between that in a first period for receiving data and that in a second period for data transmission, so that the DR chip can be realized with a small area.  
         [0051]     The analog processing unit  202  comprises an antenna  200 , an RF/IF circuit  201 , an analog-digital converter (ADC), and a digital-analog converter (DAC). The ADC is used for receiving data, while the DAC is used for data transmission. A FLASH  205  in the digital processing unit is used for storing therein various types of programs.  
         [0052]      FIG. 3  shows structure in which a plurality of analog processing units are used for several frequency bands as another embodiment of the analog processing unit  202  shown in  FIG. 2 . In  FIG. 3 , the reference numerals  301 ,  302 ,  303  indicate analog processing units prepared for difference frequency bands respectively. A radio signal switch unit  305  starts operating in response to a control signal  304  deciding radio specifications to be used and selects which analog processing unit to be connected to the digital processing unit. The control signal  304  is part of the signals transacted at a path  207  of  FIG. 2 . The digitalized data is sent through a path  306 , which is also part of the path  207 , to the digital processing unit.  
         [0000]     2. Structure of DR Chip  
         [0053]     Descriptions are provided below for configuration of the DR chip  203  for executing the digital signal processing and an interface between the software and hardware with reference to  FIG. 4 . The software is executed by a CPU  700  on the DR chip  203 .  
         [0000]     2.1 General structure of DR Chip  
         [0054]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , a DR chip includes an ADC/DAC  206 , a car navigation system  107 , an interface circuit with a FLASH  205  which is a ROM, a DRE  708  for demodulating and modulating received or transmitted signals, and a central processing unit CPU  700  for providing general controls over the system and executing preprocessing for demodulation and modulation of received and transmitted data.  
         [0055]     At first, a peripheral interface of the DR chip  203  will be described. The ADC/DAC  206  is connected to the DRE  708  via an input/output signal line  207 . The car navigation system  107  is connected to an USB interface  704  via an input/output signal line  108 . The FLASH  205  for storing therein programs and the like is connected to a flash interface FL-IF  705  via an input/output signal line  204 . The FLASH  205  stores therein software executed by the CPU  700 , configuration data executed by the dynamic reconfigurable engine DRE  708  and the like. The configuration data as used herein indicates data for specifying hardware configuration (circuit configuration) of the DRE.  
         [0056]     Next an interface between the DRE  708  and CPU  700  will be described. The CPU  700  is connected via a CPU bus  702  to the DRE  708  and built-in memory  701  as well as to the peripheral interface control circuit USB  704 , FL-IF  705 , or to an interrupt control circuit INTC  706 . Data is transferred between the CPU bus  702  and these circuits via a bridge circuit  703  and a bridge circuit  707 .  
         [0057]     2.2 Structure of DRE  
         [0058]     Structure of the DRE  708  shown in  FIG. 4  will be described with reference to  FIG. 5 . The DRE  708  includes an ALUAE (ALU Array Engine)  1202 , a radio-dedicated circuit WCE  1201 , an internal bus  1200 , and an external input/output switch EXIOS  1203 .  
         [0059]     The ALUAE  1202  is a circuit module realized with autonomous dynamic reconfiguration. The autonomous dynamic reconfiguration indicates that configuration of a circuit module is changed based on a result of computing by the circuit module itself. The EXIOS  1203  is a circuit for selecting an external data access target for the ALUAE  1202 , and the access target is the WCE  1201  or the ADC/DAC  206  outside the LSI. Interrupt is made by notifying the INTC  706  of a demand via a bus  710 . Ordinary data transfer between the ALUAE  1202  and WCE  1201  can be executed via the internal bus  1200 . Data transfer between the CPU  700  and ALUAE  1202  or between the CPU  700  and WCE  1201  is executed between the bridge  707  and the internal bus  1200 . The WCE  1201  is a circuit module for realizing radio-specific operations. The radio-specific operations include, for instance, a CRC/Scramble operation. When these operations are executed by an ALUAE which processes a plurality of bits in parallel for executing 1-bit unit processing, the efficiency is rather low. The efficient will be improved if a module as a dedicated circuit is provided.  
         [0060]     3. Structure of ALUAE and Setting Register  
         [0000]     3.1 Outline  
         [0061]     Outline of structure of the ALUAE  1202  and setting register will be described below.  
         [0062]      FIG. 6  shows structure of the ALUAE  1202 . The ALUAE  1202  is connected via a BSC  1300  to the internal bus  1200 . A main function of the BSC  1300  is to distribute input from the internal buss  1200  to each unit. An AECTL  1301  controls operations of the ALUAE  1202 , and further issues an interrupt request to the interrupt controller INTC  706 .  
         [0063]     A main block for administrating various types of processing is an ALUA  1305 . The ALUA  1305  includes ALU cells provided in the array state. A load/store array LSA which is a group of dedicated cells is used for data transfer between the ALUA  1305  and a memory or an internal device. The LSA has a plurality of load/store cells (LS cells) as described hereinafter. The LSA is divided to an LSAR  1304  positioned in the right side and LSAL  1306  (LS cell) positioned in the left side. That is, there is an area in which ALU cells are provided in matrix between the LSAR and LSAL. Input/output to and from the ALUA  1305  is performed via the LSAR or LASL. When the LSAR and LSAL are positioned between the ALUA and other external devices, the distance to the external devices is shortened, so that also the time required for data transfer can be shortened.  
         [0064]     LMEMs  1312  and  1313  are provided at positions adjoining the LSAL  1306  and LSAR  1304  respectively, and each have a local memory and an interface for the local memory therein. Input/output to the LMEMs are executed by the LSA or an IOP.  
         [0065]     Each of IOPAs  1308  and  1307  is provided in adjacent to the LMEM, and communicates with the internal bus via the BSC  1300 . Further each of the IOPAs  1308  and  1307  communicats with the. WCE and the ADC/DAC outside the DR chip via paths  1321 ,  1322 , and EXIOS.  
         [0066]     The ALUA  1305 , LSA (LSAR  1304  and LSAL  1306 ), LMEMs ( 1312 ,  1313 ), IOP (IOPA  1307 ,  1308 ) can dynamically change the configuration during processing for changing the functions and access targets.  
         [0067]     The configuration register provide instructions for operations of the modules, and there are the types of modules each having the functions as shown in  FIG. 7B . A buffer used for temporally storing data therein for changing configuration of the configuration register is present in a CNFGC.  
         [0068]     Any of the ALUA  1305 , LSA (LSAR  1304  and LSAL  1306 ), LMEMs ( 1312 ,  1313 ), and IOP (IOPA  1307 ,  1308 ) is divided to a plurality of clusters each having 8 rows, so that the configuration can be changed cluster by cluster.  
         [0069]     In the embodiment of the present invention described below, it is assumed that there are two clusters. Details of the configuration register above will be described in details hereinafter. An ordinary buffer may be used as a buffer for the CNFGC  1309 .  
         [0070]     The AECTL  1301  provides controls for the ALUAE  1202  as a whole as well as for switching of the configuration as shown in  FIG. 7A  and  FIG. 7C . The AECTL  1301  also provides, in addition to general controls over the hardware such as starting and terminating and notification of the current status, controls for autonomously switching configuration of the ALUA  1305 , LSA (LSAR  1304  and LSAL  1306 ), LMEMs ( 1312 ,  1313 ), and IOP (IOPA  1307 ,  1308 ) in the ALUAE itself as well as controls notifying the current state of configuration and interrupt for switching thereof and enabling or disabling notification of an error. An input  1330  to the AECTL  1301  is used for switching the configuration. Operations of the registers will be described in detail hereinafter.  
         [0071]     The CNFGC  1309  provides controls for an operation of writing configuration data to an object having the configuration register described above. Content of the controls is as shown in  FIG. 7A . The registers will be described in detail hereinafter.  
         [0000]     3.2 AECTL and CNFGC Control/Status Register  
         [0072]     Descriptions are provided for the AECTL  1301  and a control/status register in the CNFGC  1039  in this section.  
         [0000]     (1) Control/status Register in the AECTL  
         [0073]     The AECTL  1301  includes therein a control register  1500  and an interrupt control register  1510  shown in  FIG. 8 . The control register  1500  provides general controls and performs status notification, while the interrupt control register  1510  executes setting for an interrupt.  
         [0074]     EN and ST in the control register  1500  provide an instruction (EN) for starting or terminating an operation of the ALUAE  1202  in the sense of hardware and a notification (ST) of status as a result of the operation. When the EN is set to 1, starting of an operation is instructed, and when the EN is set to 0, termination of an operation is instructed. When the ST is set to 1, it indicates that the operation is being executed, and when the ST is set to 0, it indicates that the operation is now down. ERR indicates an error. 1 indicates an error, and 0 indicates the normal state. INI  1  and INI  0  specify initialization of the internal state of the ALUAE. INI  1  specifies initialization of a cluster  1  (for upper 8 rows), while the INI  0  indicates initialization of a cluster  0  (for lower 8 rows). When initializing, all of the internal memory elements are set to 0 or 1. C 1 ST and C 0 St indicate a configuration number currently being used in the ALUAE respectively. C 1 ST indicates a configuration number of the cluster  1 , while C 0 ST indicates a configuration number of the cluster  0 . In this embodiment, 4 bits are allocated to the C 0 ST and C 1 ST respectively, and 16 types of configurations can be switched under control.  
         [0075]     Next descriptions are provided for the interrupt control register  1510 . The ERR in the interrupt control register  1510  specifies whether an interrupt request is to be issued or not when an error occurs in the ALUAE  1202 . 1 indicates that an interrupt is executed, while 0 indicates that an interrupt is not executed. SIRQF in the interrupt control register  1510  specifies whether an interrupt is to be executed during state transition or not. SIRQ has a number of bits equal to a number of state transition control registers  1520 , and setting may be set for each state transition whether an interrupt is to be made or not. SIF in the interrupt control register  1510  indicates a factor of an interrupt. Each bit in the SIF corresponds to an interrupt expressed by each bit in the SIRQ in the state of 1 versus 1. Zero reset of the SIF indicating a factor for an interrupt is executed by data write from outside of the DRE or by resetting the DRE.  
         [0000]     (2) Control/Status Register in CNFGC  
         [0076]     A register in the CNFGC is shown at  1600  in  FIG. 9 .  
         [0077]     WREQ in the register  1600  is set to 1 when data write to a cell as a target for configuration is instructed. W 0  and W 1  indicates cluster each as a target for data write. When W 1  is set to 1, data is written in the cluster  1 , and when W 0  is set to 1, data is written in the cluster  0 . CST indicates a configuration number of the target for data write. AROW and ACOL indicate selection numbers each for an ALU cell with which the configuration is changed, and select a row and a column in each cluster.  
         [0000]     (3) Control/DR State Transition Register in AECTL  
         [0078]     The state transition register  1520  is shown in  FIG. 8 . The AECTL has a plurality of the state transition registers  1520  therein.  
         [0079]     AST indicates the condition for switching that ALUAE  1202  is down or operating. 0 indicates that the ALUAE  1202  is down, and 1 indicates that the ALUAE  1202  is operating. This function is used for transition from the initial down state to the operating state.  
         [0080]     When state transition is performed based on the configuration number currently in execution, the configuration number is specified in a CSTAT. CMSK indicates whether the current configuration number is to be regarded as a condition for state transition or not. 1 indicates that the current configuration is to be regarded as a condition for state transition, and 0 indicates that the current configuration is not to be regarded as a condition for state transition. A configuration number to which the current configuration number is transited is specified in NSTAT. An EMSK masks a trigger signal  1320  because a plurality of state transitions are treated by one state transition register  1520  for reducing a memory capacity in a status transition table. A logical OR is computed between the trigger signal  1320  and a value of EMSK, and when the result is all 1, state transition is executed. For instance, when the trigger set in the EMSK is generated by setting the CMSK to 1, the state transition is executed irrespective of the current configuration number.  
         [0000]     3.3 Structure of ALU Cell and Configuration Register  
         [0081]     Descriptions are provided in this section for structure of an ALU cell constituting the ALUA  1305  and also for the configuration register for clarifying usage of the ALU cell. In this section, how the processing in the ALUA  1305  is to be realized will be described in (1), and structure of an ALU cell will be described in (2). At last a configuration register in the ALU cell will be described in (3).  
         [0000]     (1) Image concerning usage of the ALUA  1305   
         [0082]      FIG. 10  is a view showing data for structure in which ALU cells  1700  are arrayed in a form of 4 rows and 4 columns and the filtering processing often employed for signal processing or the like is performed to the ALU cell array. Operation of the 4 rows×4 columns cell array will be described with reference to  FIG. 10 . The signs in blocks provided in the ALU cells  1700  (xC 0 , XC 1 , XC 2 , XC 3 , +) indicate functions executed by operators ALU in the respective cells, while a straight light and an arrow indicate data flows. Further black circles  1701  on the straight lines in the blocks indicates a flip-flop executing only data transfer with 1 cycle.  
         [0083]     The configuration data shown in  FIG. 10  is for computing the value-expressed by the expression below: 
 
 f[t]=e[t]×C 0 +e[t− 1]× C 1+ e[t− 2]× C 2+ e[t− 3]× C 3 
 
         [0084]     In the expression f[t] indicates an output from a filter at the time point t, e[t] indicates an input to the filter at the time point t, and C 0  to C 3  indicate filter constants respectively. e[t] is inputted from the LSAL  1306  and f[t] is outputted to the LSAR  1304 .  
         [0085]     With the configuration data described above, a cell in the first row executes data transfer to an adjoining cell in the right side and multiplication, and also executes addition using cells in the second and third rows. By inputting an input e each time from a cell in the first row and first column to the ALUA  1305  set according to the configuration data, a filter output f can be acquired with a cell in the third row and fourth column in each cycle of 9-clock cycle and on. This embodiment is an example of circuit configuration of ALUA, and the circuit configuration can be changed by changing the configuration data.  
         [0000]     (2) Structure of ALU Cell  
         [0086]     Structure of the ALU cell  1700  will be described below with reference to  FIG. 11 .  
         [0087]     Functions of a datapath in the ALU cell is an operation by the ALU  1800  and a function for data transfer. The ALU receives outputs from a selector Ai 0 -sel and a selector Ai 1 -sel, and outputs a result to a flip-flop CFF 0  and a flip-flop CFF 1 . When data transfer is executed, outputs from a selector R 0 -Sel and a selector R 1 -sel are inputted for the flip-flop RFF 0  and flip-flop RFF 1 .  
         [0088]     Inputs to the selectors Ai 0 -sel and Ai 1 -sel and those to selectors R 0 -sel and R 1 -sel are selected from outputs from input ports  1810 ,  1811 ,  1812 , and  1813  and the flip-flops CFF 0 , CFF 1 , RFF 0 , and RFF 1 . A result of selection of the signals is decided according to a value of a signal  1802  selected in a selector C-sel in a configuration register file  1801 .  
         [0089]     Outputs from the ALU cell are provided from output ports  1814 ,  1815 ,  1816 , and  1817  by selecting outputs from the flip-flops RFF 0 , RFF 1 , CFF 0 , and CFF 1  with each switch.  
         [0090]     Input ports and output ports are provided in top, down, left, and right positions and are directly connected to adjoining ALU cells in the respective sides. In this structure, the input port  1810  are connected to the output port  1814  in the top sides, input port  1811  to output port  1815  in the bottom side, input port  1812  to the output port  1816  in the left side, and input port  1813  to the output port  1817  in the right side. However, the wirings for the ALU cells at the right and left edges of the ALUA are connected to the ALU cell in the inner side and to the LS cell in the outer side. Further the wirings for the cells at the top and bottom edges are connected to the ALU cell in the inner side and are generally not connected to anything in the outer side. Up and down outward wirings of each of the ALU cells at four corners are connected to input/output lines  1320  from the ALUA  1305 .  
         [0091]     16 bits for data and 1 bit for control are allocated to each of the terminals and wirings, and the control bit is used for carry in addition, or for enable bit of load/store in an interface with the LS cell. Further a signal indicating whether the signal is valid or invalid (valid signal) is appended to each of the data signals and control signals. The valid signal is set to 1 when a data signal or a control signal is valid, and to 0 when a data signal or a control signal is invalid. The signal becomes valid for data inputted from outside of the ALUA or for data indicating a result of operation to valid data.  
         [0092]     An input to the ALU cell is provided to input ports of terminals Uin-br, Din-br, Lin-br, and Rin-br in top, bottom, right and left sides, and the inputs are connected to all of the selectors R 0 -Sel, R 1 -sel, Ai 0 -sel, and Ai 1 -sel.  
         [0093]     An output from the ALU cell are decided by selecting values of data transfer-registers RFF 0 , RFF 1  and those of the ALU output registers CFF 0 , CFF 1  with each of the switches for selectors Uo 0 -sel and Uo 1 -sel, for selectors Do 0 -sel and Do 1 -sel, for selectors Lo 0 -sel and Lo 1 -sel, and for selectors Ro 0 -sel and Ro 1 -sel. For instance, the selector Ro 0 -sel in the right side selects and outputs either RFF 0  or CFF 0 , while the selector R 01 -sel selects and outputs either RFF 1  or CFF 1 .  
         [0094]     The selectors R 0 -sel, R 1 -sel, Ai 0 -sel, and Ai 1 -sel select one from two sets of terminals in each of the four sides, an output from the output selector S-br of the flip-flop, and a constant value  1803  in one configuration register selected from the configuration register file  1801  by the selector C-sel.  
         [0095]     The ALU cell with the sign of “xC 0 ” in  FIG. 10  multiplies a value C 0  obtained by selecting the constant value  1803  with the Ai 0 -sel and a value obtained by selecting an input signal from the left terminal Lin-br with the selector Ai 1 -sel with the ALU. A multiplication -result is outputted to CFF 0  and CFF 1 , and CFF 0  is selected with the selector Do 0 -sel, and CFF 1  are selected with the selector Do 1 -sel, and the selected values are outputted to the output port  1815  in the bottom side. Further data transfer to the right side is made from the input port  1812  to the selector R 0 -sel and RFF 0  and the data is outputted by the selector Ro 0 -sel to the output port  1817 .  
         [0096]     The selection of any among the various selectors and a selection as to what operation should be done by the ALU are decided according to a value of the output signal from the selector C-sel.  
         [0097]     The signal  1802  indicates a value of a configuration register  1900  ( FIG. 12 ) in the current state. This signal  1802  indicates a value selected by the selector C-sel according to a signal  1804  selecting the current configuration in the configuration register file  1801 .  
         [0098]     Now descriptions are provided for controls with which the configuration register file  1801  is updated. The configuration register file  1801  is updated by the CNFGC  1309  shown in  FIG. 9 . By specifying an ALU cell with the control register  1600  in the CNFGC  1309 , the input port  1805  receives a signal indicating an address of the configuration register file  1801  for this ALU cell. A value inputted to the input port  1805  is decoded by the DEC to a white enable signal to a specified register. The input port  1806  is used for data write to the register in the state. The configuration register file  1801  is updated according to the two values inputted to the input ports  1805  and  1806 . The signals inputted to the input ports  1805  and  1806  are part of output signals from the CNFGC  1309  shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0099]     A signal inputted to the input port  1804  for deciding an operation of the C-sel is part of output signals  1311  from the AECTL  1301  shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0100]     The mechanism for the configuration register file  1801  and C-sel is the same as that for other configuration object blocks, LS cell and IOCTL.  
         [0000]     (3) Configuration Register  
         [0101]     Descriptions are provided below for the configuration register  1900  of the ALU cell for realizing the operations described in section (2).  
         [0102]     In the configuration register  1900 , an area  1901  is for a select signal for the selectors R 0 -sel, R 1 -sel, Ai 0 -sel, and Ai 1 -sel, and the signal is generated by selecting a pair of 17 bits from totally 10 pairs of inputs including airs of input ports for the terminals Lin-br, Rin-br, Uin-br, Din-br, as well as S-br and IMID in the configuration register  1900 . R 0 S, R 1 S, A 10 S, A 11 S indicate select code for the selectors R 0 -sel, R 1 -sel, Ai 0 -sel, and Ai 1 -sel.  
         [0103]     An area  1902  is for a control signal to the output selectors Lo 0 -sel, Lo 1 -sel in the left side, output selectors Ro 0 -sel, Ro 1 -sel in the right side, output selectors Uo 0 -sel, Uo 1 -sel in the top side, and output selectors Do 0 -sel, Do 1 -sel in the bottom side. For instance, LOS indicates a control signal to the selectors Lo 0 -sel, Lo 1 -sel. Similarly, ROS, UOS, and DOS indicate control signals for two selectors in respective sides.  
         [0104]     EXE indicates an operation executed by an ALU cell. Namely the EXE indicates arithmetic operations such as multiply, add, and subtract, or logical operations such as shift and AND. The IMID indicates a constant, and is a pair of inputs to ALU such as RO-sel and to an input selector to a transfer register.  
         [0000]     3.4 Data Load/Store Unit  
         [0105]     Descriptions are provided in this section for the data load/store unit as viewed from the side of the ALU array  1305 .  
         [0106]     Load/store is largely divided to two types. One is access to a local memory appended to each of the LMEMs  1312  and  1313 , and another is access to a hardware module outside the ALUAE  1202  and to an IO outside the DR chip. Either access is performed through a load/store dedicated cell referred to as an LS cell.  
         [0107]     Descriptions are provided below for LSA ( 1306 ,  1304 ), LMEMs ( 1312 ,  1313 ), and IOPAs ( 1308 ,  1307 ). At first an interface between the LS cell and ALU cell will be described in section (1). Then general configurations of LSA, LMEM, and IOPA will be described in section (2), an access mechanism to an LMEM  2200  will be described in section (3), and an access mechanism to the outside through an IOPA  2100  will be described in section (4).  
         [0000]     (1) Interface between LS cell and ALU cell  
         [0108]      FIG. 13  shows an interface between a load/store LS cell  2000  in the LSA and an ALU cell  1700 .  
         [0109]     An upper half of the output data terminal  1816  in the ALU cell  1700  is used for an address and R/W bits, while a lower half thereof is used for data outputted to outside of the ALU cell. The terminal  1812  receives data inputted from the LS cell. The LS cell  2000  connects ports of the ALU cell  1700  to ports  2002 ,  2003 ,  2004 , and  2005 . It is preferable that the LS cells be the same in number as the ALU cells arranged in the array state in one row along the LSAR (for instance, 16 LS cells when 16×16 ALU cells are arranged). The configuration described above is preferable because the ALU cells each outputting a result of an operation or receiving operation data and load/store cells each generating an address at which a result of an operation is to be stored or at which data to be inputted to an ALU cell is stored correspond to each other in the state of 1 versus 1 and data can be inputted to or outputted from the ALU cells concurrently.  
         [0000]     (2) General structure of LSA, LMEM, and IOPA  
         [0110]      FIG. 14  is a view showing general structure of the LSAs ( 1306 ,  1304 ), LMEMs ( 1312 ,  1313 ), and IOPAs ( 1308 ,  1307 ). The LSAs, LMEMs, and IOPAs are provided symmetrically in an ALUA respectively. Therefore, the LSAs, LMEMs, and IOPAs are generically expressed as LSA  2300 , LMEM  2200 , and IOPA  2100  in the following descriptions.  
         [0111]     The LMEM  2200  can be accessed from both of the LSA  2300  and IOPA  2100 . The LMEM  2200  is used by the LS cell  200  as an ordinary memory, and also functions as an intermediate buffer for access to an external device by the LS cell  2000 .  
         [0112]     The IOPA  2100  is a module for communications with an external IO directly connected to the ALUAE  1202  or with any other module. In this embodiment, the ADC/DAC  206  is an external IO device, and the WCE  1202  is the other module. Further the IOPA  2100  has also an interface with the BSC  1300  in the internal bus  1200 , and selects either access to an external IO device or access to the internal bus  1200  through each IOP  2106 .  
         [0000]     (3) Access Mechanism to LMEM  
         [0113]     Descriptions are provided for access from the LS cell  2000  to the LMEM  2200 .  
         [0114]     The LMEM  2200  includes a plurality of memory cells  2102  associated with the LS cells  2000 . The memory cell  2102  includes a memory MEM  2103  which can be accessed from the LS cell  2000  or from the IOP  2106 , and an Mctl  2104  for controlling access to the MEM  2103 . With this structure, access from the LS cell to the memory cell can be performed row by row concurrently.  
         [0115]     The Mctl  2104  has a function to select access from the LS cell because the memory cell  2102  can also be accessed from the IOP  2106 . The configuration register  2200  for an LS cell shown in  FIG. 15  specifies a command or a mode for access from the LS cell to the LMEM  2200 . The functions will be described below.  
         [0116]     An EN  2201  indicates whether data access from the LS cell is possible or not. An LS/PP  2202  specifies whether an address is given from the ALU cell  1700  or an address is to be automatically generated in the LS cell. An RW  2203  specifies data read or data write.  
         [0117]     Descriptions are provided below for a method of setting a register when an address is automatically generated in the LS cell. An LI/D  2204  specifies whether an address is automatically incremented or decremented. An LBAS  2205  specified a base address. An LADD  2207  specifies a width for increment or decrement. An ITER  2206  specifies how many times access is to be repeated. After access is repeated maximum repetition times, the processing returns to the base address.  
         [0000]     (4) Access Mechanism to Outside of the ALU Array  
         [0118]     Descriptions are provided for an access mechanism to outside of the ALUAE through the IOPA  2100 . At first, access from the IOPA  2100  to the LMEM  2200  will be described, and then access from the IOPA  2100  to the outside will be described.  
         [0000]     (a) Access to LMEM from the Outside  
         [0119]     The IOPA  2100  accesses a set  2110  of two memory cells  2102  through the IOP  2106 . The IOP  2106  has a set of an input port  2113  and an output port  2112 , and is connected to the BSC  1300  via wiring  2109 .  
         [0120]     The IOP  2106  is connected to the LS cell via the two memory cells  2102  each as an intermediate buffer. The input port  2113  and output port  2112  are connected to either one of the two memory cells  2102 . Further the IOP  2106  may be selectively connected not only to the input/output ports, but also to the CPU bus  2109 .  
         [0121]     The IO port configuration register  2300  shown in  FIG. 16  specifies various modes for the IOP  2106  described above. The functions will be described below. An IEN  2301  indicates whether access to the input port  2113  is possible or not. Similarly, an OEN  2302  indicates whether access to the output port  2112  is possible or not. When access to both of the input port  2113  and output port  2112  is impossible, the IOP  2106  selects access to the CPU bus  2109 .  
         [0122]     An LSSEL  2303  selects which of the two memory cells  2104  in the set  2110  to be accessed by the input port  2113  and output port  2112 . Also which of the LS cells  2000  in the set  2111  to be accessed is decided according to this specification because the LS cell  2000  and the memory cell  2102  are connected to each other in the state of 1 versus 1.  
         [0123]     For accessing from the outside, the IOP  2106  accesses a set  2110  of memory cells when an address is automatically generated. In this process, an II/D  2304 , an IBAD  2305 , and IADD  2306  are specified in correspondence to an LI/D  2204 , an LBAS  2205 , and an LADD  2207  in the LS cell configuration. The meaning is the same as that for the LS cell, and description thereof is omitted herefrom. A difference from the case of the LS cell is that access is repeated up to the maximum address of the memory.  
         [0000]     (b) External Access  
         [0124]     A mechanism for accessing an external device using the IOP  2106  described above will be described with reference to  FIG. 17  and  FIG. 18 .  
         [0125]     As shown in  FIG. 17 , the IOPA  2100  executes data access with the AD/DA  206  via an IO device for connection with outside the LSI or the WCE  1201  which is an external module to the ALU array. The IOPA  2100  is a block of IOPs  2106  for one cluster.  
         [0126]     The IOPAs  2100  are provided as a pair for the uppermost cluster and the lowermost cluster. A group of signal lines  1321  indicates a bundle of an input/output signal lines  2112  and  2113  to the IO port cell  2106  shown in  FIG. 14  and those for the uppermost cluster and the lowermost cluster in the left side. Similarly, a signal line group  1322  indicates a bundle of those for the uppermost cluster and the lowermost cluster in the left side and input/output signal lines.  
         [0127]     The signals line groups  1321  and  1322  are selectively connected by a switch  2403  in the EXIOS  1203  to either signal line  1206  or signal line  207  as a target for access.  
         [0128]     Configuration registers  2500  and  2510  in the EXIOS shown in  FIG. 18  specify connection of the switch  2403 .  
         [0129]     The configuration register  2500  specifies a target for connection of inputs and outputs to and from the IOP  2106  for the lowermost cluster, while the configuration register  2510  specifies a target for connection of inputs and outputs for the uppermost cluster. In the configuration register  2500 , an LRP3sel selects a target for connection of a right port  3  for the lowermost cluster. The port  3  indicates the IO port  2106  in the cluster, and there are a port  2 , a port  1 , and a port  0  in the descending order. Similarly, the LLP3sel specifies a target for connection of the left port  3  in the uppermost cluster. Also in the configuration register  2510  like in the configuration register  2500 , the URP3sel selects a target for connection of the right port  3  in the uppermost cluster, and the ULP3sel selects a target for connection of the left port  3  in the upper most cluster. The same is true also for other ports.  
         [0130]     A terminal of the EXIOS  1203  to the outside of the chip is the LSI external terminal to which the line  207  is connected, and has two ports for input and output as a set. Further the EXIOS  1203  has four ports for input and output as a set each as a terminal to an external module other than the ALUAE to which the wiring  1026  for the WCE is connected.  
         [0131]     Bits associated with IOP of each of the configuration registers  2500  and  2510  in the EXIOS  1203  are for selection of an LSI external terminal and for selection of an external module terminal. A bit for selection of the LSI external terminal selects an LSI external terminal  1  or an LSI external terminal  2 . A bit for selection of an external module terminal selects any of an ALUAE external module terminal  1 , an ALUAE external module terminal  2 , an ALUAE external module terminal  3 , and an ALUAE external module terminal  4 .  
         [0000]     4. Example of Setting for Data Load/Store Control  
         [0132]     Data load/store can access, in addition to access to the local memory MEM  2103  shown in  FIG. 14 , a hardware module outside the ALUAE  1202  shown in  FIG. 17  or an IO device outside the DR chip via the LS cell  2000  shown in  FIG. 14 . In this embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 17 , the WCE  1201  as an external hardware module and the ADC/DAC  206  as an external device outside the DR chip will be described as preferred examples. Further the MEM  2103  preferably includes a multi-port memory having two or more ports so that concurrent access can be made from inside and outside the ALUAE  1202 . Descriptions are provided for setting and operations in the set state of the configuration registers  2200  ( FIG. 15 ),  2300  ( FIG. 16 ), and  2500  and  2510  ( FIG. 18 ).  
         [0000]     4.1 Access to MEM  2103   
         [0133]     At first, a method of accessing the MEM  2103  will be described. Access to the MEM  2103  is largely classified to the LS cell inside address generation mode and the ALUA address supply mode according the method of generating an address. The LS cell inside address generation mode and the ALUA address supply mode will be described in section (1) and section (2) below, respectively.  
         [0000]     (1) LS Cell Inside Address Generation Mode  
         [0134]     In this mode, memory access is performed according to an address generated in the LS cell  2000 . This operation corresponds to an LDINC (DEC)/STINC (DEC) instruction shown in  FIG. 19 . Descriptions are provided below for setting and examples of operations of the configuration registers  2200 ,  2300 ,  2500 , and  2510  with reference to the LDINC instruction shown in  FIG. 19 .  
         [0135]     The LDICN instruction generates an address with the base address+displacement, and the displacement is incremented in response to each access to the memory according to the memory read access instruction.  
         [0136]     The LDINC instruction is set (LS/PP=0, RW=0, LI/D=0) in a instruction field of the LS cell configuration register  2200 , and start addresses for memory spaces used for the base address field and displacement field and a range of the displacement are specified (LBAS=0×0000, LADD=0×0100). Further setting for 0 masking input and output data to and from the EXIOS  1203  is performed (IEN=0, OEN=0) with an input/output mask for the IO port configuration register  2300 .  
         [0137]     Set conditions for each of the registers above are previously written as values for the configuration registers in a certain state from the CNFGC  1309  shown in  FIG. 6 . Descriptions are provided for data write in and selection of the LS cell configuration register  2200 . In the case of the LS cell, configuration data is written in the LS cell configuration register  2200  through a wiring  4110  shown in  FIG. 20 . There are a plurality of LS cell configuration registers  2200 , and configuration to be executed by the selector  4100  is selected according to a control signal  4111 . The control signal  4111  indicates a state corresponding to a cluster number to which the LS cell belongs based on the set conditions  1504  in the C 1 ST (cluster  1 ) and C 0 ST (cluster  0 ) in the AECTL control register  1500  indicating the configuration state.  
         [0138]     In this example, the LS cell configuration register  2200  selected as described above executes the LDINC instruction. At first a logic for address generation will be described below. For the LDICN instruction, an internal address  4114  obtained by adding a signal  4112  to the base address LBAS (0×0000 in this example) in the LS configuration register  2200  and a displacement signal  4113  generated by an adder  4101  with an adder  4102  is used as an address for memory access. The displacement signal  4113  is obtained by accumulating the signal values 1 by 1 with the adder  4101  and the register  4103 . The register  4103  is controlled according to a carry-related signal  4115 . The carry-related signal  4115  as used herein is a carry input and an enable signal appended to the carry input among signals  4116  inputted through the terminal  2002 . The carry signal is 0, a value of the register  4103  is updated, and when the carry signal is 1, the register  4103  is cleared to zero. The carry enable signal is used to determine whether the carry signal is valid or invalid. When the carry signal is effective, the register  4103  is updated or cleared to zero as described above, and when the carry signal is invalid, the current value is maintained. Further the displacement signal  4113  is compared by a comparator  4104  to a signal  4117  indicating the maximum value LADD (0×0100) for displacement, and when the two values are equal to each other, the value of the register  4103  is cleared to zero. With this operation, the range (0×0000 to 0×0100) defined by the LBAS and LADD can be used as an address space for the local memory. Any of the address  4114  generated inside and the address  4188  (signals among the signals  4116  excluding the address enable signal  4119  and carry-related signal  4115 ) supplied from the ALU cell  2001 , and is outputted as a signal  4121 . A selection signal  4120  is a signal for LS/PP in the configuration register  2200 , and because the LS/PP is 0 (zero) in this example, the address  4114  generated inside is selected. Similarly, when the signal  4114  or a POP instruction described hereinafter is issued, any of the addresses  4712  supplied from the Mctl  2104  is selected by the selector  4106  according to the select signal  4122  and is outputted as a signal  4123 . The select signal  4122  is a signal for an FIFO in the configuration register  2200 , and because the FIFO is set to 0 in this example, a signal  4121  is selected.  
         [0139]     Next descriptions are provided for the logic for generating memory access control signal, i.e., a read/write request signal  4124  and a read/write enable signal  4125 . The read/write request signal  4124  corresponds to a RW signal  4126  in the LS cell configuration register  2200 , and is transferred to the MEMctl  2104 . RW is set to 0 in response to the LDINC instruction, which indicates a read request. The read/write enable signal  4125  is generated by the enable controller  4107  from an address enable signal  4119  and a carry enable signal and is transferred via the wiring  4125  to the MEMctl  2104 . Only when these two enable signals are valid, memory access is performed via the MEMctl  2104  in response to the read/write request signal  4124 .  
         [0140]     Finally, descriptions are provided for an address for the memory access and data read out in response to the control signal. The data read out from the MEM  2103  is inputted as a signal  4127  to the enable controller  4108 . The enable controller  4108  delays the read/write enable signal  4125  by a number of memory read cycles in response to a memory read request and combines the signal as an enable signal for the signal  4127  with the signal  4127  to generates a signal  4128 . The signal  4128  is transferred from the terminals  2004  and  2005  to the ALU cell  2001 .  
         [0141]     Since, in this mode, it is not necessary to use the ALUA  1305  for generating an address, the ALUA  1305  can effectively be used for processing.  
         [0000]     (2) ALUA Address Supply Mode  
         [0142]     In this mode, memory access is performed according to an address inputted from the ALU cell  2001 . This operation is associated with the LD/ST instruction shown in  FIG. 19 . Descriptions are provided below for setting and operations of the configuration registers  2200 ,  2300 ,  2500 ,  2510  with reference to the ST command shown in the figure.  
         [0143]     The ST instruction is a instruction for write access to a memory according to an address inputted from the ALU cell  2001 , and the LS cell configuration register  2200  is set to (LS/PP=1, RW=1). The setting in the IO port configuration register  2300  not to access the WCE  1201  or the ADC/DAC  206  and the operation for selecting the configuration to be executed from a plurality of LS cell configuration registers  2200  with the selector  4100  are the same as described in section (1) above.  
         [0144]     Operations according to the ST instruction in this mode will be described below. Address generation in response to the ST command is the same as that described in section (1) excluding the operations of the selector  4105 , and therefore only the differences will be described below. A signal is selected by the selectors  4105  so that the address  4118  supplied from the ALU cell  2001  is outputted as a signal  4123 . Because the select signal  4120  (a signal for LS/PP in the configuration register  2200 ) is set to 1, an address supplied from the ALU cell  2001  is selected by the selector  4105 .  
         [0145]     Next a memory access control signal will be described below. The read/write request signal  4124  is the same as that described in section (1), and therefore description thereof is omitted herefrom. The read/write signal  4125  is generated by the enable controller  4107  from, in addition to the address enable signal  4119  and the carry enable signal, the data enable signal  4130  indicating whether the data  4131  is valid or invalid among signals  4129  inputted via the terminal  2003 , and is transferred via the wiring  4125  to the MEMctl  2104 . Only when all of these enable signals are valid, memory access is performed via the MEMctl  2104  based on the read/write request signal  4124 . The data  4131  is written in the MEM  2103  according to the address and the control signal described above.  
         [0000]     4.2 Access to WCE  
         [0146]     Next a method of access to a WCE  1201  will be described. The WCE  1201  is accessible with an LD/ST instruction. Descriptions are provided below for setting of configuration registers  2200 ,  2300 ,  2500 ,  2510  and an example of operations thereof employing an ST instruction referring to  FIG. 21  and  FIG. 22 .  FIG. 21  shows setting of a configuration register and  FIG. 22  shows modules associated with an access to WCE  1201 .  FIG. 22  also shows an LS cell  2000 , a set of memory cells  2110  and IOP  2106  each shown in  FIG. 14 , and EXIOS  1203  shown in  FIG. 17 . As described above, setting of each register described above is previously written as a value of a configuration register in a certain state from CNFGC  1309  shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0147]     Signals  4311 ,  4313  shown in  FIG. 22  and a signal  4610  shown in  FIG. 25  are signals for a configuration selected from a plurality of IO port configuration registers  2300  and to be executed. In the case of the EXIOS, configuration data is written in EXIOS configuration registers  2500 ,  2510  via wiring  2109  shown in  FIG. 22 . In case of each of the EXIOS configuration registers  2500 ,  2510 , only one unit exists, unlike the LS cell configuration register  2200  or IO port configuration register  2300 .  
         [0148]     Setting of the LS cell configuration register  2200  is the same as that of the ST instruction. Setting of the IO port configuration register  2300  and EXIOS configuration registers  2500 ,  2510  is as shown in  FIG. 21 . Points of difference of  FIG. 21  from  FIG. 19  are that OEN of the IO configuration register  2300  is 1, LSSEL of the same is 0, and ULP 0 sel of the EXIOS configuration register  2500  is 0. OEN indicates the setting of data output enable/disable from the LS cell  2000  to the outside of ALUAE. OEN represents, as shown in  FIG. 22 , one side input of AND  4301  as a signal  4311 . Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 21 , when OEN is set as 1, an output  4312  from the LS cell side is not 0 masked, but the data is outputted to a signal  2113 .  
         [0149]     Wiring for an input/output signal between the LS cell side and IOP  2106  has certain flexibility, and setting of LSSEL determines which of a memory cell  4302  on the upper part and a memory cell  4303  on the lower part in FIG.  22  is connected to the outside of ALUAE. LSSEL is used for a selection signal  4113  of selectors  4304 ,  4306 . In this embodiment, by setting LSSEL as 0, a signal  4314  is selected in the selector  4304 , so that data is outputted to a signal  4312 . In the EXIOS  1203 , setting of ULPsel makes selection of the WCE  1201  or ADC/DAC  206  possible as a destination to be connected. ULP 0 sel is used as a control signal  4315  of selectors  4305 ,  4307 . When the setting is as shown in  FIG. 21  (ULP 0 sel=0), wiring  2113  is selected by the selector  4305  so that the data is outputted to wiring  1206 .  
         [0150]     With the configuration described above, a write access is performed from the LS cell  2000  via the memory cell  4302  on the upper part to the WCE  1201  as shown in bold line.  
         [0000]     4.3 Access to ADC/DAC  
         [0151]     Lastly descriptions are provided for an access to ADC/DAC  206 . An access to the ADC/DAC  206  is carried out using another instruction by data output to and data input from the ADC/DAC  206 . In relation to each of the data output and data input, descriptions are provided below for setting of configuration registers  2200 ,  2300 ,  2500 ,  2510 , and operations thereof according to FIGS.  23  to  26 .  
         [0000]     (1) Data Output to ADC/DAC  
         [0152]     Data output is conducted by an ST instruction and STINC (DEC) instruction shown in  FIG. 23 . Setting of the LS cell configuration register  2200  is the same as that in the ALUA address supply mode and LS cell address generation mode respectively. Setting of the IO port configuration register  2300  (LSSEL=0, OEN=1) is the same as that in the case of an access to the WCE  1201 . Operations in  FIG. 24  are also the same as those described in  FIG. 22 , until the data output is performed from the LS cell  2000  to a signal  2113 .  
         [0153]     A point of difference from what has been described so far is that the EXIOS configuration registers  2500 ,  2510  are set as shown in  FIG. 23  (ULP 0 sel=1). In accordance with this setting, a selector  4305  of EXIOS  1203  shown in  FIG. 24  selects ADC/DAC  206  as an output destination of a signal  2113  to output the result to wiring  207 . With the configuration described above, data can be outputted from the LS cell  2000  via a memory cell  4302  on the upper part to the ADC/DAC  206 .  
         [0000]     (2) Data Input from ADC/DAC  
         [0154]     Data input is conducted by a two-stage operation: (a) to write data inputted from the ADC/DAC  206  in MEM  2103 ; and (b) to read out the data from the MEM  2103  to the LS cell  2000  under the POP instruction shown in  FIG. 23 . Descriptions are provided below for each of the operations (a) and (b).  
         [0000]     (a) Write from ADC/DAC  206  to MEM  2103   
         [0155]     As shown in the POP instruction in  FIG. 23 , setting is carried out for the IO port configuration register  2300  and the EXIOS configuration registers  2500 ,  2510 . Setting of the ULP 0 sel to 1 allows to select the wiring  207  with the selector  4307  shown in  FIG. 25  to output data to the wiring  2112 . IEN indicates data input enable/disable from the outside of ALUAE to the inside thereof, and represents one side input of AND  4600  as a signal  4610 . Therefore, by setting IEN to 1 as shown in  FIG. 21 , an input  2112  from the outside of ALUAE is not 0 masked in the AND  4600 , but data thereof is outputted to a signal  4611 . The signal  4611  and signal  2109  are inputted to a selector  4601 . The selector  4601  preferentially selects the signal  4611  to output the signal as a signal  4612 . The selector  4306  determines connection between the memory cell  4302  on the upper part and the memory cell  4303  on the lower part according to setting of LSSEL. In this embodiment (LSSEL=0), the signal  4612  and signal  4613  are connected to transfer data to the memory cell  4302  on the upper part. With the configuration described above, the data can be transferred from the ADC/DAC  206  to the memory cell  4302  on the upper part as shown in bold line. Descriptions are provided below for the details when data is stored in the MEM  2103  in the memory cell  4302 .  
         [0156]     When data is inputted from the ADC/DAC  206 , the MEM  2103  is operated as FIFO, and a memory access is performed with an address generated in Mctl  2104 . The address is generated with a base address and displacement. The displacement is incremented one by one with respect to each memory access.  
         [0157]     The maximum value of the base address and displacement described above is set in the IO port configuration register  2300  according to the POP instruction shown in  FIG. 23  (In this embodiment, IBAS=0×0200 and IADD=0×050, respectively).  
         [0158]     An example of the internal logic of the Mctl  2104 , which determines the address of the MEM  2103 , is shown in  FIG. 26 , and will be described below.  
         [0159]     Configuration data is written in the IO port configuration register  2300  via the wiring  2109  shown in  FIG. 22 . Though there exist a plurality of IO port configuration registers  2300 , a configuration to be executed by the selector  4300  is selected with a control signal  4310 . The control signal  4310  indicates the state associated with a cluster number to which the IO port belongs, based on the setting of C 1 ST (cluster  1 ) and C 0 ST (cluster  0 ) in an AECTL control register  1500  which show the state of configuration.  
         [0160]     Descriptions are now provided for register setting of the IO port configuration register and setting of a register to be executed. Setting of a register is previously written from CNFGC  1309  shown in  FIG. 6  via the wiring  4720  for Mctl  2104  shown in  FIG. 26 . Though there exist a plurality of IO port configuration registers  2300  built in the Mctl  2104 , a configuration to be executed by a selector  4700  is selected with a control signal  4721 . The control signal  4721  shows the state associated with a cluster number to which the IO port belongs, based on the setting of C 1 ST (cluster  1 ) and C 0 ST (cluster  0 ) in the AECTL control register  1500  which show the state of configuration.  
         [0161]     At first, a logic of generating an address signal  4722  will be described. In the POP instruction, an address is obtained as a signal  4722  by adding with an adder  4702  a signal  4723  of a base address IBAD (0×0200 in this embodiment) in the IO port configuration register  2300  and a signal  4724  of displacement generated with an adder  4701 .  
         [0162]     The displacement signal  4724  is obtained by accumulatively adding one by one using the adder  4701  and a register  4703 . The register  4703  is controlled by a data enable signal  4725 . The data enable signal  4725  used herein refers to a signal, among the signals  4613 , attached to a data signal  4726  and indicating whether the data is valid or not. When the data enable signal  4725  is 1, the value of the register  4703  is updated, while in turn, when the signal is 0, the current value is maintained. Further, the displacement signal  4724  is compared to a signal  4727  for the maximum value IADD (0×0050) of displacement with a comparator  4704 , and then, when both have the same value, the register  4703  is 0 cleared. With this configuration, the range defined by IBAS and IADD (0×0200 to 0×0250) as an address space for a local memory can be utilized.  
         [0163]     Next a memory access control signal will be described. Each of a read/write request signal  4728  and a read/write enable signal  4729  is equal to a data enable signal  4725 . Therefore, when data  4726  is valid, the read/write request signal  4728  and read/write enable signal  4729  perform a write access to the MEM  2103 .  
         [0000]     (b) Read from MEM  2103  to LS Cell  2000   
         [0164]     To conduct the aforementioned operation, as shown in the column according to the POP instruction in  FIG. 23 , FIFO of the LS cell configuration register  2200  is set to 1. With this setting, a POP request signal  4733  shown in  FIG. 20  is transferred to the Mctl  2104  as a valid signal. The POP request signal  4733  is a signal of FIFO. The selector  4106  shown in the same figure selects an address for POP  4730  generated in the Mctl  2104  and outputs the address to a signal  4123 . A description is below made of generation of the POP request signal  4730 . A displacement signal  4731  can be obtained by accumulatively adding one by one using an adder  4705  and a register  4706 . The register  4706  is controlled by a read/write enable signal  4732 . The read/write enable signal  4732  will be described later. When the read/write enable signal  4732  is 1, the value of the register  4706  is updated. On the other hand, when the signal is 0, the current value is maintained. Further the displacement signal  4731  is compared to a regi-displacement signal  4724  with a comparator  4708  and the value of the register  4706  is updated/maintained so that the value does not exceed the compared value. With this configuration, a read address will not outrun a write address, so that the range fixed by IBAS and IADD (0×0200 to 0×0250) can be used.  
         [0165]     Next a logic of generating a memory access control signal will be described. The description of the read/write enable signal  4732  is made as explained in 6.3.1, and thus is omitted. The read/write enable signal  4732  is generated by an enable controller  4709  on the basis of the POP request signal  4733  from the LS cell  200 , a read/write enable signal  4125 , a data enable signal  4725  and the comparative result of a comparator  4708 . The read/write enable signal  4732  is valid, only when the POP request signal  4733  from the LS cell is 1, the read/write enable signal  4732  is valid, and the read address does not outrun the write address (namely, FIFO is not empty). Control over the state of FIFO in the enable controller  4709  is not essential in this invention, and is thus omitted herein.  
         [0166]     Lastly, a description is made of data read out from an address and a control signal for a memory access described above. The data read out from the MEM  2103  is transferred via a signal  4127  to the LS cell  2000 . At the same time, a POP request signal  4733  is correctly received, and a POP acknowledge signal  4734  which indicates that data read out from the MEM  2103  is valid is transferred from the enable controller  4709  to the LS cell  2000 . The POP acknowledge signal  4734  is a signal outputted to the LS cell  2000  by delaying a read/write request signal  4732  by the number of memory read cycles with an enable controller  4709 . Such a signal is inputted in an enable controller  4108  in the LS cell  2000 . The enable controller  4108  integrates the POP acknowledge signal  4734  as an enable signal with the signal  4127  to generate a signal  4128 . The signal  4128  is transferred from terminals  2004  and  2005  to the ALU cell  2001 .  
         [0167]     With the operations (a) and (b) described above, the data inputted from the ADC/DAC  206  can be read out.  
         [0168]     Although the present invention will be described above with reference to embodiments thereof, various modifications are possible within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.  
         [0169]     The description of the reference numerals used in the drawings for the present application is as follows:  
         [0170]      106  . . . Software defined radio,  107  . . . Car navigation system,  202  . . . Preprocessing section for a software defined radio,  203  . . . Dynamic reconfigurable (DR) chip,  205  . . . FLASH ROM,  206  . . . ADC/DAC,  700  . . . CPU,  706  . . . Interrupt controller INTC,  708  . . . DR engine,  710  . . . Interrupt request signal,  1201  . . . WC engine,  1202  . . . ALUAE,  1203  . . . EXIOS,  1301  . . . AECTL,  1304  . . . LSAR,  1305  . . . ALU array,  1306  . . . LSAL,  1309  . . . CNFGC,  1311  . . . Subsequent state signal of configuration,  1312 ,  1313  . . . LMEM,  1700  . . . ALU cell,  2000  . . . LS cell,  2100  . . . Input/output circuit,  2200  . . . Internal local memory, and  2300  . . . Load/store array.