Global optimization approach for architectural synthesis

A relaxed linear programming model which simultaneously schedules and allocates functional units and registers is presented for synthesizing cost-constrained globally optimal architectures. This approach is important for industrial applications, because it provides exploration of optimal synthesized architectures and early architectural decisions have the greatest impact on the final design. An integer programming formulation of the architectural synthesis problem is transformed into the mode packing problem. Polyhedral theory is used to formulate constraints that decrease the size of the search space, thus improving solution efficiency. Execution times are an order of magnitude faster than for previous heuristic techniques. The present approach breaks new ground by (1) simultaneously scheduling and allocating in practical execution times, (2) guaranteeing globally optimal solutions for a specific objective function, and (3) providing a polynomial run-time algorithm for solving some instances of this NP-complete problem