Speculative Circuit Design GUI for Clock Frequency Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing integrated circuit (IC) design techniques face limitations in maximizing clock signal frequency due to restrictions from user directives, hardware features, and insufficient registers, which hinder the effectiveness of register retiming and lead to suboptimal performance without clear understanding of available variations and tradeoffs.
Innovation Solution
A software solution that includes a graphical user interface (GUI) for determining, displaying, and controlling speculative circuit design changes such as adding registers, removing user directives, and converting asynchronous clears to synchronous clears, allowing users to visualize and select variations that enhance clock signal performance through a retimer, while enabling control over the compilation process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If register retiming is applied to improve clock signal frequency, then performance is improved, but circuit design complexity increases due to required register additions and modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs speculative circuit design changes in advance of actual implementation. By pre-determining and displaying potential register additions, user directive removals, and asynchronous clear conversions before final compilation, the tool allows designers to review and accept only necessary changes, reducing unnecessary complexity while maintaining performance benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The graphical user interface provides feedback to users by displaying speculative changes and their impact on clock signal performance. Users can review the proposed modifications and provide feedback to control which changes are applied during compilation, enabling informed decisions about performance optimization versus design simplicity
2Speed
If speculative circuit design changes are made to maximize performance, then clock signal frequency is improved, but the number of required design modifications increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the circuit design changes into distinct categories displayed in the graphical user interface, including register additions, user directive removals, and asynchronous clear conversions. This segmentation allows users to review and select individual change types, making it easier to implement only the necessary modifications rather than accepting all speculative changes at once
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple variations of circuit design are generated to explore performance options, then performance optimization is improved, but the complexity of analyzing tradeoffs increases
Solution Approach 1:
The graphical user interface acts as an intermediary between the complex retiming analysis and the user. It displays speculative changes and performance impacts in an organized, visual format that simplifies the comparison of multiple design variations, making it easier to understand tradeoffs without requiring deep technical analysis of each option
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, includes instructions to receive a first circuit design, determine one or more variations of the first circuit design using register retiming with speculative circuit design changes, determine one or more performance improvements of the variations when fed clock signals over the first circuit design, determine one or more tradeoffs of the one or more variations of the first circuit design in comparison to the first circuit design, display a summary of the one or more variations of the first circuit design, the one or more performance improvements, and the one or more tradeoffs, and provide a user-selectable user interface element to enable selection of the first circuit design, at least one of the one or more variations of the first circuit design, or a combination thereof.