A high level modeling and synthesis methodology for concurrent systems using rendezvous
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Indefinite
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Abstract
Since their introduction, modern computer systems have been increasing in complexity. System designers have been dealing with ever larger designs by moving to higher abstraction level system descriptions. The existing register transfer level of abstraction has become unable to handle modern designs, requiring a move to high level modeling. The most popular of the current approaches for high level design is using SystemC, a set of libraries built in C++, to model hardware using software concepts. However, software based approaches suffer from a major drawback--the lack of a formal definition for both communication and computation. Basic hardware primitives such as concurrency and multiparty communication cannot be easily expressed in software and the translation of these models into hardware equivalents is difficult. As a result, most designers choose to represent systems as a high level SystemC model for simulation, and a set of register transfer level designs for implementation. This gap presents challenges in the design and verification of the system.
This work proposes a novel high level modeling methodology, called Lyra, which uses the well studied concepts of finite state machines for computation and of rendezvous for communication. A rendezvous is a bidirectional, atomic, synchronous communication construct that supports a wide variety of communication patterns such as multiparty and variable party communication. The presence of a novel mechanism to handle nondeterminism from the use of rendezvous allows Lyra to model designs that existing rendezvous based approaches cannot. Finite state machine based modeling makes Lyra amenable to hardware implementation and easily understandable by hardware engineers. The formal foundation of Lyra and the ability to implement models as hardware are advantages compared to other high level modeling approaches.
This thesis presents Lyra and the novel rendezvous nondeterminism resolution mechanism, called the communication scheduler. It develops a graph based method to analyze and compare different rendezvous based approaches. This work demonstrates the implementation of Lyra into a simulator and a synthesis tool, creating a practical design flow. This work examines some system models that demonstrate the benefits of using Lyra.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.