MAHA: A Program for Datapath Synthesis

Alice C. Parker, Jorge T. Pizarro, Mitch Mlinar

Design Automation Conference · 1986 · 246 citations · 4 references

Concepts

TL;DR

MAHA implements an algorithm for register‑level synthesis of datapaths from data‑flow specifications. The algorithm assigns critical‑path nodes linearly, then schedules nodes with the least freedom first, optimizing either cost under a time constraint or speed under a cost constraint. The implementation, written in Franz LISP, runs in minutes on a VAX 11/780 for practical‑size problems and is illustrated with literature examples.

Abstract

MAHA is a program which implements an algorithm for register level synthesis of data paths from a data flow specification. The algorithm is based on a linear hardware assignment to critical path nodes, followed by a cost-based assignment using the concept of the freedom of a node to be scheduled. Functions with the least scheduling freedom are scheduled first. The program either minimizes cost, subject to a time constraint, or maximizes speed subject to a cost constraint. The implementation of this algorithm is presented using examples from the literature. MAHA is written in Franz LISP, and executes within minutes for problems of practical size on a VAX 11/780.

References

4