FlexSoC: Combining Flexibility and Efficiency in SoC Designs

The FlexSoC project aims at developing a design framework that makes it possible to combine the computational speed and energy-efficiency of specialized hardware accelerators with the flexibility of programmable processors. FlexSoC approaches this problem by defining a uniform programming interface across the heterogeneous structure of processing resources. This paper justifies our approach and also discusses the central research issues we will focus on in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture, and programming and verification