A Flexible and Compact Regular Expression Matching Engine Using Partial Reconfiguration for FPGA

Abstract

This paper proposes a method using partial re-configuration to realize a compact regular expression matching engine, which can update a pattern quickly. In the proposed method, several partial circuits, each of which handles a different class of regular expressions, are provided in advance. When a regular expression pattern is given, a suitable and compact matching engine is implemented on FPGA by combining the partial circuits according to the given pattern and using partial reconfiguration. The method can update a pattern quickly, since it does not need re-design of a circuit resulting in a long time for pattern update. Experimental results show that the proposed method reduces 63% circuit size of an existing engine without increasing pattern updating time.