A hierarchical CDFG as intermediate representation for hardware/software codesign

A hierarchical CDFG model designed as an intermediate representation for hardware/software (HW/SW) codesign is presented in this paper. A new concept of transport node, which represents the communication resources of the system, is proposed in this model. Hierarchical feature can be straightly obtained through extending the definition of nodes, allowing them to nest sub-CDFG recursively. Then it is demonstrated how to build basic control constructs of branches and loops. Explaining in a short introduction to the translation process, such a hierarchical CDFG is suitable for HW/SW codesign as an intermediate representation. The hierarchical CDFG model can capture the design information from source file specified by VHDL or C language. It maintains relative simplicity while providing helpful features for HW/SW partitioning and High-level synthesis tools.