Parallel algorithms for simultaneous scheduling, binding and floorplanning in high-level synthesis

With small device features in submicron technologies, interconnection delays play a dominant part in cycle time. Hence, it is important to consider the impact of physical design during high level synthesis. In comparison to a traditional approach which separates high-level synthesis from physical design, an algorithm which is able to make these stages interact very closely, would result in solutions with lower latency and area. However, such an approach could result in increased runtimes. Parallel processing is an attractive way of reducing the runtimes. In this paper, two parallel algorithms for simultaneous scheduling, binding and floorplanning algorithm are presented. A detailed hardware model is considered, taking into account multiplexor and register areas and delays. Experimental results are reported on an IBM SP-2 multicomputer, with close to linear speedups for a set of benchmark circuits