High-Level Synthesis Contest

Synthesis and Optimization of Digital Systems

Abstract

brave_opt is a Tcl script compatible with Shy_HLS, aimed at minimizing power and area under latency constraints.

The basic idea behind brave_opt is:

  • filter out non-convenient functional units
  • bind all nodes to fastest functional units (in order to check if the scheduling is feasible)
  • slow down every node as far as timing constraints are satisfied
  • schedule nodes using a Minimum Area Latency Constrained algorithm

 

N.B. "non-convenient functional units" are:

  • slower and more power consuming
  • slower, equally power consuming and more or equal area requiring

This filtering is hence prioritizing power saving: this choice has been taken considering that in modern designs power consumption is usually more critical than area occupation.

Control flow diagram

flow-diagram