Automated Pin Assignment for System-on-Chip Interconnects
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of system-on-chips (SOCs) with numerous hard circuit blocks and programmable interconnect circuitry makes manual determination of pin assignments between hard circuit blocks and interface circuitry time-consuming and inefficient, leading to suboptimal solutions.
Innovation Solution
A design tool is used to input circuit and interface pin constraints, generating multiple pin solutions and applying an objective function to select optimal pin assignments, utilizing integer linear programming or Boolean satisfiability algorithms to automate the process and reduce computational requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual determination of pin assignments is used, then design flexibility and understanding are maintained, but time consumption and inefficiency increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically generating pin assignments through the computer program product that executes constraint satisfaction algorithms. The design tool independently determines optimal pin-to-pin connections without requiring manual designer intervention, thereby resolving the contradiction between maintaining design quality and improving productivity while reducing time loss.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of hard circuit blocks increases, then system functionality and performance improve, but pin assignment complexity and difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system manages increasing pin assignment complexity by changing parameters through algorithmic processing. The computer program product transforms the complex many-to-many pin assignment problem into a constrained optimization problem that can be solved systematically, allowing the system to handle increased functionality without proportionally increasing assignment difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
The design tool acts as an intermediary between the increasing number of hard circuit blocks and the pin assignment process. Rather than directly managing complex manual assignments, the intermediary computer program applies constraint satisfaction algorithms to automatically resolve connections, thereby handling system functionality expansion without proportionally increasing assignment complexity.
3Ease of operation
If manual pin assignment management is used, then design teams can exercise subjective judgment, but suboptimal solutions and repeated meetings are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the computer program product evaluates pin assignment solutions against defined constraints and objective functions. This feedback loop allows the algorithm to iteratively improve assignments, ensuring optimality while maintaining operational ease through automated constraint checking and solution validation.
Data Source
AI summary
Circuit pin constraints input to a design tool specify respective sets of circuit pins belonging to circuit blocks, and input interface pin constraints specify respective sets of interface pins belonging to instances of an interface circuit. The design tool generates pin solutions, and each pin solution includes pin assignments of the circuit pins to the interface pins. The design tool applies an objective function to the pin solutions and selects one pin solution that satisfies the objective function. The design tool then specifies in a circuit design, connections between the circuit pins and the interface pins according to the selected pin solution.