Synthesis of application-specific memory designs

This paper discusses the mapping of arrays in a behavior to memories in an implementation. We introduce a novel approach to the design of memory systems, which is based on a variety of array grouping techniques and dimensional transformations, and the binding of array groups to memory components with different dimensions, access times, and number of ports. The results of design actions are computed in terms of memory cost, the number of wires necessary to connect the memory to the data path, and the limit of performance imposed by the memory design on the implementation. Three different procedures can be used to find a suitable memory design. All three procedures are directed by a weighted and constrained system cost function, which enables the expression of the user's design priorities. Compared to related research efforts, our approach improves performance by as much as 19%, reduces memory cost as 40%, and decreases the number of wires required to connect the memory to the data path by up to 57%.