Automated Synthesis of Data Paths in Digital Systems

This paper presents a unifying procedure, called Facet, for the automated synthesis of data paths at the register-transfer level. The procedure minimizes the number of storage elements, data operators, and interconnection units. A design generator named Emerald, based on Facet, was developed and implemented to facilitate extensive experiments with the methodology. The input to the design generator is a behavioral description which is viewed as a code sequence. Emerald provides mechanisms for interactively manipulating the code sequence. Different forms of the code sequence are mapped into data paths of different cost and speed. Data paths for the behavioral descriptions of the AM2910, the AM2901, and the IBM System/370 were produced and analyzed. Designs for the AM2910 and the AM2901 are compared with commercial designs. Overall, the total number of gates required for Emerald's designs is about 15 percent more than the commercial designs. The design space spanned by the behavioral specification of the AM2901 is extensively explored.

[1]  Gerhard Zimmermann.  The Mimola Design System a Computer Aided Digital Processor Design Method , 1979, 16th Design Automation Conference.

[2]  Shuji Tsukiyama,et al.  A New Algorithm for Generating All the Maximal Independent Sets , 1977, SIAM J. Comput..

[3]  Donald E. Thomas,et al.  Automatic Data Path Synthesis , 1983, Computer.

[4]  C. Bron,et al.  Algorithm 457: finding all cliques of an undirected graph , 1973 .

[5]  Howard E. Shrobe,et al.  The Data Path Generator , 1982, COMPCON.

[6]  Stephen H. Unger,et al.  Minimizing the Number of States in Incompletely Specified Sequential Switching Functions , 1959, IRE Trans. Electron. Comput..

[7]  Daniel P. Siewiorek,et al.  A design methodology and computer aids for digital VLSI systems , 1981 .

[8]  Derek G. Corneil,et al.  Corrections to Bierstone's Algorithm for Generating Cliques , 1972, J. ACM.

[9]  John A. Darringer,et al.  A New Look at Logic Synthesis , 1980, 17th Design Automation Conference.

[10]  Peter Marwedel,et al.  The MIMOLA Design System: Detailed Description of the Software System , 1979, 16th Design Automation Conference.

[11]  Alice C. Parker,et al.  Automated Synthesis of Digital Hardware , 1982, IEEE Transactions on Computers.

[12]  Jack Minker,et al.  An Analysis of Some Graph Theoretical Cluster Techniques , 1970, JACM.

[13]  Daniel P. Siewiorek,et al.  The Modeling and Synthesis of Bus Systems , 1981, 18th Design Automation Conference.

[14]  Alice C. Parker,et al.  A Formal Method for the Specification, Analysis, and Design of Register-Transfer Level Digital Logic , 1983, IEEE Trans. Comput. Aided Des. Integr. Circuits Syst..