A Representation for the Binding of RT-Component Functionality to HDL Behavior

Abstract

Existing high-level synthesis (HLS) systems typically assume a simple representation for the functionality of RT components and for the binding of abstract behavioral (HDL) operators to RT components. Such a representation scheme simplifies synthesis but ignores the problems of representing realistic RT components that may perform several functions and generate several outputs in a single time step. In this paper, we present a novel representation scheme that links realistic RT-component behavior with abstract HDL behavior. It is useful for representing specific components in user-extendable libraries and adapting component libraries to HDL modeling styles. The representation can also be used to support interactive allocation and binding of components during HLS, as well as interactive rebinding of components once a preliminary floorplan is obtained. This allows the designer to iterate between the results of physical design and the higher-level tasks of component allocation and binding. Furthermore, the representation we describe can be used to establish formally the correctness of interactive binding using realistic RT components. We briefly describe the features of the representation and show its applicability on a HLS benchmark - the AM2901.