Automated Pipeline Register Insertion for Timing-Critical Bus Signals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Designers face challenges in resolving timing issues in circuit designs due to the complexity of bus protocol standards, particularly in determining optimal pipeline depths for register slices, which requires interpreting place-and-route results and correlating them with pipelining controls, prolonging the design process.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize a programmed processor to input circuit designs with specified attributes, perform timing analysis, and automatically insert equal numbers of pipeline registers on timing-critical paths, maintaining proper cycle timing between data and handshake signals, while optimizing pipeline depth based on place-and-route results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If designers manually insert pipeline registers to resolve timing issues, then timing constraints can be met, but the design process is prolonged and complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically identifies timing-critical paths and inserts pipeline registers without requiring manual designer intervention. The computer processor autonomously analyzes place-and-route results, determines optimal pipeline depths, and modifies the circuit design to meet timing constraints, thereby eliminating the time-consuming manual iteration process while ensuring reliable timing satisfaction.
2Reliability
If pipeline depth is increased to meet timing constraints, then timing issues are resolved, but logic utilization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies pipelining selectively only to timing-critical paths rather than uniformly across the entire bus protocol pathway. By identifying specific signals or sources with equivalent identifier values that violate timing constraints and inserting pipeline registers only on those paths, the solution meets timing requirements while minimizing the increase in logic utilization.
3Productivity
If automated pipelining is implemented, then design time is reduced, but ensuring functional correctness becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses place-and-route timing analysis results as feedback to automatically adjust pipeline register insertion. The computer processor analyzes timing violations, determines the required pipeline depth based on actual routing results, and iteratively refines the circuit design until timing constraints are satisfied. This closed-loop approach ensures functional correctness by base
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed approaches process a circuit design having first attributes associated with two or more signals or with sources of the two or more signals. The first attributes specify identifier values. The elements of the circuit design are placed on a target integrated circuit (IC), and timing analysis of the circuit design is performed after placing the elements of the circuit design. In response to the first attributes of the two or more signals or sources specifying equivalent identifier values and a path of at least one of the two or more signals or sources being timing-critical, equal numbers of one or more pipeline registers are inserted on paths of the two or more signals or sources.