CHAUDHURI , ET AL : A SOLUTION METHODOLOGY FOR EXACT DESIGN SPACE EXPLORATION IN A 3 D DESIGN SPACE 3 Time - Constrained 3 D

1 A Solution Methodology for Exact Design Space Exploration in a Three-Dimensional Design Space1 Samit Chaudhuri 2 Stephen A. Blythe3 Robert A. Walker 4 Cadence Design Systems Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Kent State University San Jose, CA 95134 Troy, NY 12180 Kent, OH 44242 Abstract| This paper describes an exact solution methodology, implemented in Rensselaer's Voyager design space exploration system, for solving the scheduling problem in a 3dimensional (3D) design space: the usual 2D design space (which trades o area and schedule length), plus a third dimension representing clock length. Unlike design space exploration methodologies which rely on bounds or estimates, this methodology is guaranteed to nd the globally optimal solution to a 3D scheduling problem. Furthermore, this methodology e ciently prunes the search space, eliminating provably inferior design points through: (1) a careful selection of candidate clock lengths, and (2) tight bounds on the number of functional units or on the schedule length. Both chaining and multi-cycle operations are supported.