BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program™
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BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program™ |
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BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program™
Program BenefitsThe BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program (HLSTCP) enables tool vendors to:
Overview of MethodologyBackgroundAs embedded processing applications have grown in complexity and embedded processing chips (CPus, DSPs, FPGAs, and other types) have become more complex, there is an increasing need for more efficient application development methodologies. This is particularly true for FPGAs, massively parallel processors, and other non-traditional processing engines, which are inherently more complex than traditional single-core processors. To address this need, many chip and tools companies have developed high-level application development tools. In this context, “high-level” means that the input to the tool is a design description largely independent of the details of the target processing engine. For example, C is a high-level language that is independent of the target processing engine; assembly language and register-transfer level (RTL) hardware description language (HDL) code are not. High-level synthesis tools are of particular importance for FPGAs: the capacity and capabilities of FPGAs have expanded rapidly, but the ability of engineers to make effective use of FPGAs has not kept pace. In recent years a number of tools companies and FPGA suppliers have fielded high-level synthesis tools targeting FPGAs. These tools aim to boost productivity for FPGA designers, and in some cases to make FPGA design accessible to engineers who lack traditional hardware design skills (in particular, knowledge of RTL design). In addition to productivity gains for designs targeting a single hardware platform, high-level synthesis tools can greatly simplify retargeting a design to different FPGAs (from the same or from a different vendor) or even to an ASIC design. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some of these high-level synthesis tools may be very effective. However, prior to the introduction of the BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program there was virtually no credible, independent data or analysis that enabled prospective vendors to prove the effectiveness of their tools. The BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program provides objective, credible data enables tool vendors to prove the effectiveness of their tools, attract customer attention, and accelerate improvement of their tools. Introduction to the Certification ProgramThe BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program provides credible, meaningful data and analysis evaluating the capabilities of high-level synthesis tools used with FPGAs. The program focuses on two main aspects of these tools:
The program evaluates the performance of high-level synthesis tools when used to develop demanding, highly parallelizable real-time digital signal processing applications, since such applications are a primary target market for FPGAs. The program compares the quality of results and usability (productivity and ease-of-use) of high-level synthesis tool flows with two well-known alternatives:
Note that high-level synthesis tools are used together with traditional RTL, HDL-based FPGA design tools: the high-level synthesis tool generates an RTL design, and traditional FPGA tools are used for synthesis, placement, and other necessary steps to obtain a complete FPGA implementation of an application. For this reason, the BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program evaluates high-level synthesis tools used in combination with FPGA RTL tools. Target PlatformsThe program uses the Xilinx Spartan-3A DSP FPGA combined with Xilinx ISE and EDK tools, and the Xilinx XtremeDSP Video Starter Kit. Spartan-3A DSP FPGAs are based on Xilinx’s low-cost Spartan-3A family, but have a number of enhancements to accelerate digital signal processing. The target DSP platform is a Texas Instruments TMS320DM6437 DSP processor, programmed using TI Code Composer Studio tools, and the TI Digital Video Evaluation Module. The Texas Instruments TMS320DM6437 includes a 594 MHz TMS320C64x+ DSP core along with a video processing subsystem (i.e., video hardware accelerators). The hardware accelerators are not of benefit in implementing the program workloads and were not used by BDTI. FPGA Design Using High-Level ToolsUnlike a DSP tool flow, where a single integrated tool chain (in our case, TI Code Composer) is used throughout the entire design process, multiple tool flows are required to complete an end-to-end FPGA design. The typical implementation process for an FPGA-based design using a high-level synthesis tool is shown in the block diagram below.  Figure 1: Design Flow Using High-Level Synthesis Tools with FPGA Vendor RTL Tools Since the high-level synthesis tool is only used in the first step (to create RTL from a description in high level language), BDTI could have limited evaluation to this portion of the implementation process. However, potential users need to understand how to get from a description of the application in a high level language all the way to an FPGA—which requires the use of FPGA vendor-specific RTL tools. Because of this, BDTI evaluates the entire process shown in Figure 1, including the FPGA vendor RTL tools. Evaluation WorkloadsBDTI uses two evaluation workloads (example applications) in the program:
The BDTI Optical Flow Workload is used to enable comparisons between:
The BDTI DQPSK Receiver Workload is used to enable comparisons between:
These workloads have been designed to be broadly representative of the types of embedded computing applications that electronic system designers implement using FPGAs. They have been designed to be sufficiently complex to be realistic, but simple enough to be practical for use in this program. Obtaining BDTI Certified™ ResultsProgram ParticipationHigh-level synthesis tool vendors may participate in the BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program at one or more levels. LicensingFirst, the vendor must license the program specifications from BDTI. A license to the program provides:
Vendor Self-EvaluationAs the second step, a vendor may perform a self-evaluation by implementing the workloads and comparing its results with those published by BDTI and other vendors. Results from a self-evaluation may be used internally to improve technology and understand product strengths and weaknesses. Certification and AnalysisFinally, a vendor may have its results certified by BDTI. Certification is necessary to disclose results to third parties. During certification and analysis, BDTI uses the tool in depth to assess its capabilities and usability and validates the results obtained by the vendor in the self-evaluation. Participate in the ProgramContact BDTI to participate in the program and to get details of licensing and certification. Current ResultsTo see currently available results for the BDTI High-Level Synthesis Tool Certification Program, click here. |
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