Grammar-based hardware synthesis of data communication protocols

For a synthesis methodology to support implementation independent design specification, a capability for design space exploration is essential. In this paper we present such a methodology for a specific domain: data communication protocols. A natural way to specify various elements of protocols is in terms of a grammar annotated with actions. Our language for protocol specification, called PRO-GRAM, is based on this idea. The hardware specification of the protocol is done by specifying the bit-patterns of the tokens the protocol is supposed to parse together with the actual grammar to parse the input stream. By specifying constraints on the input and output stream ports, the designer is allowed to explore alternative realisations with different widths of the I/O ports. The PRO-GRAM compiler outputs VHDL-code suitable for logic synthesis.