Function‐level module sharing techniques in high‐level synthesis

Abstract

High‐level synthesis (HLS), which automatically synthesizes a register‐transfer level (RTL) circuit from a behavioral description written in a high‐level programming language such as C/C++, is becoming a more popular technique for improving design productivity. In general, HLS tools often generate a circuit with a larger area than those of hand‐designed ones. One reason for this issue is that HLS tools often generate multiple instances of the same module from a function. To eliminate such a redundancy in circuit area in HLS, HLS tools are capable of sharing modules. Function‐level module sharing at a behavioral description written in a high‐level programming language may promote function reuse to increase effectiveness and reduce circuit area. In this paper, we present two HLS techniques for module sharing at the function level.

Keywords

• function calls
• function inlining
• high‐level synthesis
• module sharing