Exploring trade-offs in buffer requirements and throughput constraints for synchronous dataflow graphs

Multimedia applications usually have throughput constraints. An implementation must meet these constraints, while it minimizes resource usage and energy consumption. The compute intensive kernels of these applications are often specified as synchronous dataflow graphs. Communication between nodes in these graphs requires storage space which influences throughput. We present exact techniques to chart the Pareto space of throughput and storage tradeoffs, which can be used to determine the minimal storage space needed to execute a graph under a given throughput constraint. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated with a number of examples