A Framework for Evaluating High-Level Design Methodologies for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computers

Abstract

High-performance reconfigurable computers have potential to provide substantial performance improvements over traditional supercomputers. Their acceptance, however, has been hindered by productivity challenges arising from increased design complexity, a wide array of custom design languages and tools, and often overblown sales literature. This paper presents a review and taxonomy of High-Level Languages (HLLs) and a framework for the comparative analysis of their features. It also introduces new metrics and a model based on computational effort. The proposed concepts are inspired by Netwon's equations of motion and the notion of work and power in an abstract multidimensional space of design specifications. The metrics are devised to highlight two aspects of the design process: the total time-to-solution and the efficient utilization of user and computing resources at discrete time steps along the development path. The study involves analytical and experimental evaluations demonstrating the applicability of the proposed model.