ASAM - Automatic Architecture Synthesis and Application Mapping
ASAM is a research project in the framework of the European ARTEMIS Research Program and ARTEMIS Joint Undertaking - the public-private partnership for R&D in Embedded Systems.
ASAM targets a uniform process of automatic architecture synthesis and application mapping for heterogeneous multi-processor embedded systems based on adaptable and extendable ASIPs. It aims to define a new unified design methodology, as well as, related automated synthesis and prototyping tool-chains. The new design environment will allow rapid exploration of the high-level algorithm and architecture design spaces, as well as, an efficient automation of the final system synthesis, and in consequence, quick development of high-quality designs.
Innovation and Market Impact
The ASAM project will deliver new capabilities to automate the design and the
construction Application-specific Instruction Set Processors (ASIPs) and
ASIP-based Multiprocessor Systems on Chip (MPSocs). This will be achieved
through a holistic design-space exploration, involving a combined micro- and
macro-architecture exploration and selection, at the MPSocC system level and at
the ASIP processor level respectively. The ASAM design flow will account for the
actual constraints on modern MPSoC design including power, performance and area
efficiency, as well as, required MPSoCs flexibility. Innovative features will
include the automatic application partitioning, the ASIPs architecture
instantiation and customization, as well as, application-tailored communication
and memory structures design. The project will also advance the state-of-the-art
in application parallelization, partitioning, scheduling and mapping, needed to
facilitate the design-space exploration and to deliver applications running
efficiently on the constructed heterogeneous multi-processor platforms.
The new embedded system design technology being under development in the ASAM project is relevant for a very broad range of applications (in consumer electronics, multimedia, entertainment, telecom, medical imaging and instrumentation, advanced machinery, military, etc.), and it is applicable to several implementation technologies (e.g. SOC or ASIC, structured ASIC, and FPGA). It fulfills the needs of multi-domain and cross-domain applications, and addresses fundamental development challenges for electronic systems of the future. Application-specific systems play and will increasingly play a major role in the electronic system market. However, the rapid changes in the high performance and low energy consumption demands of such a market dictate the provided MPSoC solutions to be, at the same time, programmable and highly efficient. The ASAM project aims at facilitating the resulting MPSoC design through application-analysis driven ASIP auto-tuning.