The SDEF Programming System

SDEF, a systolic array programming system, is presented. It is intended to provide 1) systolic algorithm researchers/developers with an executable notation, and 2) the software systems community with a target notation for the development of higher level systolic software tools. The design issues associated with such a programming system are identified. A spacetime representation of systolic computations is described briefly in order to motivate SDEF’s program notation. The programming system treats a special class of systolic computations, called atomic systolic computations, any one of which can be specified as a set of properties: the computation’s 1) index set (S), 2) domain dependencies (D), 3) spacetime embedding (E), and nodal function (F). These properties are defined and illustrated. SDEF’s user interface is presented. It comprises an editor, a translator, a domain type database, and a systolic array simulator used to test SDEF programs. The system currently runs on a Sun 3/50 operating under Unix and Xwindows. Key design choices affecting this implementation are described. SDEF is designed for portability. The problem of porting it to a Transputer array is discussed. ∗This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under contracts N00014-84-K-0664 and N00014-85-K-0553. 1