An Interactive High-level Synthesis Tool Based on Attribute Grammars

Abstrac t: Computer-aided synthesis of digital circuits from behavioral level specifications offers an effective way to deal with the increasing complexity of digital hardware design. A high level synthesis tool transforms an abstract algorithmic description into a detailed register transfer level implementation. Even though considerable research has taken place, regarding high-level synthesis, practical implementations are just emerging. This happens due to the fact that designers demand interaction at both the specification and implementation level. This paper explores an original idea, as well as the corresponding implementation, for the design of a grammar based interactive design environment, which allows designers supplement high-level synthesis optimizations with their implementation preferences. The suggested methodology raises the feasibility for high level design space exploration by enabling synthesis results to be directly modifiable by the user. IMACS/IEEE CSCC'99 Proceedings, Pages:6381-6387