An ILP solution for simultaneous scheduling, allocation, and binding in multiple block synthesis

Presents a novel approach to the high-level synthesis problems of scheduling, allocation, and binding for multiblock behavioral descriptions. Our design tool, JOSHUA, uses an integer linear programming (ILP) formulation to solve the three interdependent subproblems simultaneously and optimally. The system allows the designer to minimize time, area, and the number of microwords for the entire design, or for specific segments of the design. A diverse module library provides a selection of modules that can perform a specific operation in differing amounts of time (control steps). A novel feature is the ability to select an implementation for part of an algorithm from among a set of implementation alternatives. The system can also handle the issues of path frequencies, loops, parallel threads of execution, and register allocation