Scalable N-worst algorithms for dynamic timing and activity analysis

Hari Cherupalli, John M Sartori

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

As the overheads for ensuring the correctness of electronic designs continue to increase with continued technology scaling and increased variability, better-than-worst-case (BTWC) design has gained significant attention. Many BTWC design techniques utilize dynamic timing and activity information for design analysis and optimization. These techniques rely on path-based analysis that enumerates the exercised paths in a design as targets for analysis and optimization. However, path-based dynamic analysis techniques are not scalable and cannot be used to analyze full processors and full applications. On the other hand, graph-based techniques like those that form the foundational building blocks of electronic design automation tools are scalable and can efficiently analyze large designs. In this paper, we extend graph-based analysis to provide the fundamental dynamic analysis tools necessary for BTWC design, analysis, and optimization. Specifically, we present scalable graph-based techniques to report the N-worst exercised paths in a design for three metrics - timing criticality (slack), activity (toggle count), and activity subject to delay constraints. Compared to existing path-based techniques, our scalable dynamic analysis techniques improve average performance by 977 x, 163 x, and 113 x, respectively, and enable scalable analysis for a full processor design running full applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2017 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, ICCAD 2017
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages585-592
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781538630938
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 13 2017
Event36th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, ICCAD 2017 - Irvine, United States
Duration: Nov 13 2017Nov 16 2017

Publication series

NameIEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, Digest of Technical Papers, ICCAD
Volume2017-November
ISSN (Print)1092-3152

Other

Other36th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, ICCAD 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityIrvine
Period11/13/1711/16/17

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 IEEE.

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