Pointer re-coding for creating definitive MPSoC models

Abstract

Today’s MPSoC synthesis and exploration design flows start from an abstract input specification model captured in a system level design language. Usually this model is created from a C reference code by encapsulating the computation and the communication using behaviors and channels. However, often pointers in the reference code hamper the necessary analysis and transformations. In this paper, we present an automated approach to re-code and eliminate pointers. By re-coding the pointer accesses to the actual variables, MPSoC models with definitive computational blocks that communicate using explicit channels become possible. Our pointer re-coding approach not only increases synthesizeability, analyzeability and verifiability by system tools, but also helps the designer in program comprehension. Our experiments show that this approach is not only feasible, but also effective in creating better models of real-life applications in shorter time.