SHF: Small: Synthesis-Driven Methods for Reuse, Integration, and Programming of Specialized Accelerators in Systems-on-Chip

SHF：小型：用于片上系统中专用加速器的重用、集成和编程的综合驱动方法

• 批准号: 1219001
• 负责人: Luca Carloni
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-07-01 至 2017-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1219001&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SHF; Small; Synthesis; Driven; Methods

A System-on-Chip (SoC) is the emerging computing platform that lies at the core of a variety of systems from computer servers in data centers to embedded systems and mobile devices. As semiconductor technology progresses, in order to deliver higher performance under tighter power constraints, SoCs increasingly combine various programmable cores, which provide precious flexibility through software, with many specialized accelerators, hardware modules optimized to execute only specific functions without dissipating too much power. The result is a heterogeneous system that is energy efficient but also very difficult to design. Indeed, the growth of SoC complexity has been outpacing progress in the computer-aided design (CAD) tools which are available to computer engineers. This design-productivity gap is a gloomy trend for the entire semiconductor industry. The PI will address this challenge by establishing Supervised Design-Space Exploration as the foundation for a new component-based design environment in which hardware-accelerator developers, software programmers and system architects can interact effectively while they each pursue their specific goals. In particular, the PI will develop CAD methodologies and tools that: (1) at the component-level, assist developers and programmers in the cost/performance modeling and optimization of accelerators to enable architectural exploration and to increase their reusability across many potential SoC designs; and (2) at the system-level, assist architects in the automatic integration of accelerators and other heterogeneous components to obtain an optimal implementation of a given SoC.This proposal will allow the PI to train graduate and undergraduate students in the design and programming of innovative SoC platforms for a variety of application domains from computer vision to security and networking. A core part of the proposal is the development of a new capstone course that is aimed at breaking the historical boundaries between software programming and hardware design which are still present across many electrical engineering and computer science curricula.

片上系统（SOC）是新兴的计算平台，它位于从数据中心的计算机服务器到嵌入式系统和移动设备的各种系统的核心。随着半导体技术的进步，为了在更严格的功率限制下提供更高的性能，SOCS越来越多地结合了各种可编程核心，这些核心通过软件提供了宝贵的灵活性，以及​​许多专业的加速器，可以优化的硬件模块，以仅执行特定功能而无需耗尽太多功能。结果是一个异质的系统，该系统是节能的，但也很难设计。实际上，SOC复杂性的增长已经超过了计算机工程师使用的计算机辅助设计（CAD）工具的进度。对于整个半导体行业来说，这种设计生产性差距是一个令人沮丧的趋势。 PI将通过建立有监督的设计空间探索作为新的基于组件的设计环境的基础来应对这一挑战，在该环境中，硬件加速器开发人员，软件程序员和系统架构师可以在每个人追求特定目标的同时有效交互。特别是，PI将开发CAD方法和工具：（1）在组件级别，协助开发人员和程序员对加速器的成本/性能建模和优化，以实现建筑探索并在许多潜在的SOC设计中提高其可重复性； （2）在系统级别，协助建筑师自动整合加速器和其他异质组件，以获得给定SOC的最佳实现。此提案将允许PI培训毕业生和本科生在Innovative SOC的设计和本科生，以从计算机视觉和网络的各种应用程序领域的创新型SOC平台进行培训。该提案的核心部分是开发新的顶峰课程，该课程旨在打破软件编程和硬件设计之间的历史界限，这些界限仍然存在于许多电气工程和计算机科学课程中。