System-level design methodology for streaming multi-processor embedded systems

This dissertation introduces new design methodology for automated design, programming, and implementation of multiprocessor systems-on-chip (MPSoCs) starting at a high level of abstraction. The proposed methodology offers a fully integrated tool-flow for very fast exploration and implementation of alternative MPSoCs, where design space exploration, system-level synthesis, application mapping, and system prototyping of MPSoCs are highly automated. The main idea is starting from a functional specification of an application and a description of an MPSoC at system level, to refine and translate them to lower register transfer level (RTL) descriptions in a systematic and automated way. This is achieved by applying a model-driven approach which exploits the platform-based design concept. In particular, to model an application, we use the Kahn Process Network (KPN) model of computation, which has proved to be well suited for specifying streaming applications in a parallel form. In addition, we have devised a platform model which allows for building MPSoCs in a systematic and automated way that execute KPNs efficiently. We use a mapping model to express the relation between the processes and the communication channels in the application (KPN) and the processing and memory components of the platform.