Design flow for hardware/software cosynthesis of a video compression system

The implementation of a cosynthesis design flow in the CASTLE (Codesign And Synthesis Tool Environment) system is presented. The design flow generates a synthesizable hardware description and a C, C++, or Fortran compiler for an application-oriented processor. The approach is illustrated by the design of an embedded video compression system which can be integrated into the video card of a PC. The design flow is structured as follows. First, the requirements of the application programs are analyzed. Based on these analysis results, the designer decides on the appropriate processor structure. The processor structure is entered on a block diagram level into the CASTLE system by using a schematic entry. The CASTLE system performs the processor cosynthesis based on a VHDL library of processor components. Several processor datapaths for the video compression system were synthesized to illustrate the trade-offs between flexibility and performance when designing application-oriented processors