CAREER: IP-Based Embedded Systems Design

这个项目是芯片系统设计的一种新方法，称为解构。该方法从现有的预制、参数化的硅参考设计开始，由数百个知识产权（IP）块组成，然后通过设置参数将其解构为所需的系统。相比之下，目前的方法是通过结合IP然后生成硅来构建理想的系统。这种方法具有严重的验证局限性。正在开发的技术侧重于使解构系统在功率、性能和尺寸等设计指标方面与构建系统竞争。重点是与参考设计的灵活性有关的两个问题：(1)形式化参数化参考设计的概念，包括一个健全的参数分类方案，以及指定这些参数的精确方法；(2)开发参数优化的模型和算法，需要系统级的功率和性能指标模型，从中可以快速计算度量值。这种优化是通过开发基于成本范围的技术来实现的，而不是基于单一成本值来评估候选解决方案。

This project is a new approach to system-on-a-chip design, called deconstruction. The approach starts with an existing prefabricated, parameterized, reference design in silicon, composed of hundreds of Intellectual Property (IP) blocks, and then deconstructs it into the desired system by setting parameters. In contrast, the current approach is to construct a desired system by combining IP and then generating silicon. This approach has serious verification limitations. The techniques being developed focus on making deconstructed systems competitive with constructed systems in terms of design metrics like power, performance and size. The emphasis is on two issues relating to flexibility in reference designs: (1) Formalizing the notion of parameterized reference designs, consisting of a sound parameter classification scheme, and a precise method of specifying such parameters, and (2) Developing models and algorithms for parameter optimization, requiring system-level models of power and performance metrics from which metric values can be rapidly computed. Such optimization is being achieved by developing techniques based on cost ranges, rather than single cost values, to evaluate candidate solutions.