Telescopic units: a new paradigm for performance optimization of VLSI designs

Author

Benini, Luca ; Macii, Enrico ; Poncino, Massimo ; De Micheli, Giovanni

Author_Institution

Comput. Syst. Lab., Stanford Univ., CA, USA

Volume

17

Issue

3

fYear

1998

fDate

3/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

220

Lastpage

232

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel optimization paradigm for increasing the throughput of digital systems. The basic idea consists of transforming fixed-latency units into variable-latency ones that run with a faster clock cycle. The transformation is fully automatic and can be used in conjunction with traditional design techniques to improve the overall performance of speed-critical units. In addition, we introduce procedures for reducing the area overhead of the modified units, and we formulate an algorithm for automatically restructuring the controllers of the data paths in which variable-latency units have been introduced. Results, obtained on a large set of benchmark circuits, show an average throughput improvement exceeding 27%, at the price of a modest area increase (less than 8% on average)

Keywords

VLSI; circuit CAD; circuit optimisation; clocks; digital integrated circuits; integrated circuit design; logic CAD; VLSI designs; area increase; area overhead; benchmark circuits; clock cycle; digital systems; optimization paradigm; performance optimization; speed-critical units; telescopic units; throughput; variable-latency units; Circuits; Clocks; Delay; Design automation; Digital systems; Logic design; Optical design; Optimization; Throughput; Very large scale integration;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0070

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/43.700720

Filename

700720