Target architectures in the CATHEDRAL synthesis systems: objectives and impact

The rapidly increasing complexity of DSP (digital signal processing) applications and the need for short design times in the consumer and telecommunication fields necessitate the use of CAD tools supporting high-level architectural synthesis in these domains. In addition, sufficient efficiency is crucial for competitive real-life systems. It is the authors´ belief that these objectives can only be accomplished in an acceptable way by abandoning the ideal of total generality, i.e. by adopting several architectural target styles each tuned to specific (but still relatively broad) application domains. At IMEC, five such styles have been defined. Their impact on the algorithmic and rule-based synthesis tools that are under development is discussed. Both the similarities and the differences among the five approaches are addressed. The use of powerful, diversified mechanisms of user interaction is advocated at all the stages in the design