A comprehensive estimation technique for high-level synthesis

We present an integrated approach aimed at predicting layout area needed to implement a behavioral description for a given performance goal. Our approach is novel because: (1) it accounts for all types of RT level components (FUs, buses, registers), (2) it is highly flexible, allowing the designer to tradeoff one type of resources with another, and considers dependencies between these different types, (3) it is vertically integrated to include provably accurate physical level estimators, and hence provides realistic accounting of layout effects, and (4) it uses a timing model with finer granularity, accounting for various delays in RTL datapaths. We demonstrate our technique on a variety of HLS benchmarks and showthat efficient and effective design space exploration can be accomplished using this technique.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1995
• Where: ISSS
• Authors: Seong Yong Ohm, Fadi J. Kurdahi, Nikil Dutt, Min Xu
• Keywords: Hardware, Integrated Approach, ISSS 1995, Physical Level Estimators, RT Level Components