Hardware/software cosynthesis: multiple constraint satisfaction and component retrieval

Abstract

Hardware/software cosynthesis is a complex process that involves transforming a high-level system specification to an implemented hardware/software system that meets the specification constraints. One phase of the cosynthesis process is described: partitioning the specification into components and binding them to hardware/software resources. Partitioning requires an effective means to explore the design space, challenges include: supporting constraint-driven retrieval; and evaluating candidate solutions considering the interaction of multiple constraints. The cosynthesis tool described assigns scores to candidate solutions using multiple design constraints, but rather than the simple sum approach predominant in cosynthesis research, it uses a vector of rank data that does not require that equal weight be given to all criteria. Our results to date show that not only can we process a scaleable, selectable set of design constraints, but when compared with a 2 constraint Fidducia-Matheyses (FM) approach, we achieve better results. The flexible component retrieval is accomplished using our database system; the database is unique for three reasons: it uses a hardware description language as the basis for its conceptual model; it allows flexible, ad hoc querying over designs; and it uses a fine granularity of component modeling to enable detailed search conditions required by the cosynthesis tool.