Towards Optimal System-Level Design

System-level design includes selecting optimal parts to realize a specified hardware structure. Multiple-function parts and constraints among functions make local-optimization techniques inadequate for generating globally optimal designs. Also, parts and part sets cannot be evaluated without considering the cost of implementing their support functions. Finally, for multi-attribute optimization, designers have difficulty assigning weights to the cost attributes. We present a synthesis tool that handles multiple-function parts, support functions, constraints, multi-attribute evaluation, and generates optimal designs.