An integrated algorithm for memory allocation and assignment in high-level synthesis

Abstract

With the increasing design complexity and performance requirement, data arrays in behavioral specification are usually mapped to fast on-chip memories in behavioral synthesis. This paper describes a new algorithm that overcomes two limitations of the previous works on the problem of memory-allocation and array-mapping to memories. Specifically, its key features are (1) a tight link to the scheduling effect, which was totally or partially ignored by the existing memory synthesis systems, and supporting (2) non-uniform access speeds among the ports of memories, which greatly diversify the possible (practical) memory configurations. Experimental data on a set of benchmark filter designs are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed exploration strategy in finding globally best memory configurations.