A model-based inter-process resource sharing approach for high-level synthesis of dataflow graphs

High-level synthesis tools are gaining more and more acceptance in industrial design flows. While they increase productivity in implementing a single complex hardware module, synthesizing and optimizing many hardware components simultaneously is still an open problem. In particular, resource sharing is typically only performed for single components, thereby neglecting optimization possibilities across concurrent modules. On the other hand, domain-specific models and specifications, which are generally seen as a key ingredient to raise the level of abstraction in future design flows, may enable such global optimizations. In this paper, we present a model-based approach for inter-process resource sharing which provides for efficient high-level synthesis of streaming applications modeled as a set of communicating processes. The applicability of the proposed approach is validated by a case study.