Reconfigurable architecture for embedding web services

Abstract

The Web services framework is specially conceived for integrating, in an easy way, different Internet services from different providers. Web services have been widely adopted in business applications using PC-based servers as their main implementation platform. However, the nowadays growing computational and communication power of the FPGA devices allows its implementation taking advantage of the special features that those platforms offer. In this work we propose a reconfigurable architecture to support web services that reduces the cost and maintenance of the system and increases the security and robustness of the service. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated by developing a specific service, called WoLI, which allows the remote wake up of network nodes over Internet. The prototype has been proved and tested in a real environment where the service is accessible from any client able to support standard communication with a Web server.