Interaction in language based system level design using an advanced compiler generator environment

Computer-aided synthesis of digital circuits from behavioural level specifications offers an effective way to deal with the increasing complexity of digital hardware design. A high-level synthesis tool transforms an abstract algorithmic description into a detailed register transfer level implementation. Even though considerable research has taken place, regarding high-level synthesis, practical implementations are just emerging. This happens due to the fact that designers demand interaction at both the specification and implementation level. This paper describes an efficient implementation of an original idea, for the design of a grammar based interactive design environment, which allows designers to supplement high-level synthesis optimizations and set constraints among the operators in the textual algorithmic description to meet their implementation preferences. The suggested methodology raises the feasibility for high level design space exploration by enabling synthesis results to be directly modifiable by the user.