Automated exploration of the design space for register transfer (RT) systems
Mario R. Barbacci, Daniel P. Siewiorek · ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News · 1973
A Design Automation System for the RT level of design is described. The System explores the design space by finding alternative implementations for a user given behavioral specification. The alternative solutions are obtained by transformations on a graph model. These transformations effect trade-offs between the cost of the hardware and the speed of the algorithm. Heuristic routines are used to reduce the design space by exploring only those alternatives whose characteristics approach a user given set of goals.