UCI Cadlab
Technical Reports 1998
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TR-98-23
TR-98-15
TR-98-13
TR-98-10
TR-98-07
TR-98-06
TR-98-03

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Postscript TR-98-23

Andreas Gerstlauer, Shuqing Zhao and Daniel D. Gajski,
"VHDL+/SpecC Comparisons - A Case Study,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-23, May 1998.

In this report, we make a comparison between two system level design languages - VHDL+ and SpecC - based on exploration of two worked examples modeled in both languages. We introduce the main features of the two language. Two examples, FIFO and FEC, are modeled with VHDL+ and SpecC. We conclude with a comparison between these two languages.

 

Postscript TR-98-15

En-Shou Chang and Daniel D. Gajski,
"System-Level Timing-constrained Scheduling,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-15, January 1998.

Abstract HLS scheduling algorithms can not be applied on system-level synthesis due to the following problems:

  • The control-step is not available at system-level.
  • Mixed concurrent and exclusive execution flows.
  • Synchronization among objects scheduled.
  • Execution time of objects scheduled may not be determined until run-time.
     In this paper, we present a data-structure to specify the input for system-level scheduling, and a system-level timing-constrained scheduling algorithm. Static scheduling, which has no OS overhead and better system WCET, is used. The algorithm presented can obtain near-optimal solutions within acceptable and predictable CPU time.

 

Postscript TR-98-13

Rainer Dömer, Jianwen Zhu, Daniel D. Gajski,
"The SpecC Language Reference Manual,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-13, March 1998.

This Language Reference Manual defines the syntax and the semantics of the SpecC language.
     The SpecC language is an extension of the ANSI-C programming language. Since ANSI-C is already well-documented, this report only describes the special constructs that were added for SpecC.
     For each SpecC construct, the syntax, the purpose and the semantics are documented and an example is given for easy explanation. Also, the full SpecC grammar is included using a formal notation in lex and yacc style.

 

Postscript TR-98-10

Gaurav Aggarwal and Daniel D. Gajski,
"Exploring DCT Implementations,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-10, March 1998.

The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is used in the MPEG and JPEG compression standards. Thus, the DCT component has stringent timing requirements. The high performance which is required cannot be achieved by a sequential implementation of the algorithm. In this report, we explore different optimization techniques to improve the performance of the DCT. We discuss various pipelining options to further reduce the latency. We present a transformation of the algorithm that reduces the memory requirements and hence, reduces the cost of the implementation. We also describe RT-level implementations of the sequential, pipelined and memory optimized designs.

 

Postscript TR-98-07

Daniel D. Gajski, Gaurav Aggarwal, En-Shou Chang, Rainer Doemer, Tadatoshi Ishii, Jon Kleinsmith and Jianwen Zhu,
"Methodology for Co-design of Embedded Systems,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-07, March 1998.

In this report we describe a co-design methodology for design of embedded systems. We describe the necessary design steps in order to map an abstract specification of the system to the final implementation model. We propose a co-design tool based on our co-design methodology. We also present a graphical user interface for the proposed co-design tool.

 

Postscript TR-98-06

Jon Kleinsmith and Daniel D. Gajski,
"Communication Synthesis for Reuse,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-06, February 1998.

In this report we discuss a set of techniques needed to generate and synthesize communication interfaces in a System Design context. Given a behavioral specification, we present the transformations necessary for generating a communication model containing channels and protocol. This work is being conducted in conjunction with codesign tools being developed in the CADLAB at the University of California, Irvine.

 

Postscript TR-98-03

Gaurav Aggarwal and Daniel D. Gajski,
"Modeling Guidelines for ASIC Reuse,"
UC Irvine, Technical Report ICS-TR-98-03, March 1998

In this report, we discuss the various issues and problems associated with ASIC reuse. We describe the different models of communication between components and the essential issues in interfacing ASICs that use different communication protocols. We come up with guidelines that help in modeling for reuse. We also propose a new HDL, SpecC, that has the desirable characteristics for co-designing systems. This language is suited for ASIC reuse and overcomes the limitations of VHDL.

 


Last update: March 25, 1999 by A. Gerstlauer (gerstl@cecs.uci.edu).