A Graph Based Algorithm for Data Path Optimization in Custom Processors

The rising complexity, customization and short time to market of modern digital systems requires automatic methods for generation of high performance architectures for such systems. This paper presents algorithms to automatically create custom data path for a given application that optimizes both resource utilization and performance. The inputs to the architecture generator include application source code, operation execution frequency obtained by the profile run and a component library (consisting of ALUs, busses, multiplexors etc.). The output is the application specific data path specified as the set of resource instances and their connections. The algorithm starts with a dense architecture and iteratively refines it until an efficient architecture is derived. The key optimization goal is to keep performance within given boundaries while maximizing resource utilization. Our experimental results show that generated architectures are comparable to manual designs, but can be obtained in a matter of few seconds, thereby leading to significant productivity gains.