SAM : A Data Path Allocation System.

This paper describes a data path allocation system called the SAM (Simultaneous Allocation by Merging). It produces efficient data path circuits for scheduled input problems. It allocates all types of hardware elements - function units, registers and interconnections - simultaneously by exploiting trade-off among them. It also exploits trade-off between a mapping from variables to registers and another mapping from operations to function units and reduces the amount of interconnection. It automatically determines the number, type and bit-width of function units and registers, and interconnects them. The SAM system is the first data path allocation system that explores the full design space algorithmically. This flexibility allows the SAM system to produce good data path circuits. We provide experimental results of the SAM system. (An extended abstract of this paper is to be presented at the Custom Intergrated Circuits Conference in May 1990.)