One of the greatest challenges in a C/C++-based design methodology is efficiently mapping C/C++ models into hardware. Many networking and multimedia applications implemented in hardware or mixed hardware/software systems now use complex data structures stored in multiple memories, so many C/C++ features that were originally designed for software applications are now making their way into hardware. Such features include dynamic memory allocation and pointers for managing data. We present a solution for efficiently mapping arbitrary C code with pointers and malloc/free into hardware. Our solution, which fits current memory management methodologies, instantiates an application-specific hardware memory allocator coupled with a memory architecture. Our work also supports the resolution of pointers without restriction on the data structures. We present an implementation based on the SUIF framework along with case studies such as the realization of a video filter and an ATM segmentation engine.

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As designers may model mixed hardware-software systems using a subset of or ++, we present SpC, a solution to synthesize and optimize hardware models with pointers. In hardware, a pointer is not only the address of data in memory, but it may also reference data mapped to registers, ports, or wires. Pointer analysis is used to find the set of locations each pointer may reference in a program at compile time. In this paper, we address the problem of synthesizing and optimizing pointers to multiple variables or array elements. The value of the pointers are encoded and branching statements are used to dynamically access data referenced by pointers. A heuristic is used to efficiently encode the values of the pointers. Compiler techniques are also used to reduce storage before loads and stores. An implementation using the SUIF framework (Wilson et al., 1994; SUIF Compiler Framework) is presented, followed by some case studies and experimental results.

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k designers may model tied software-hardware systems using a subset of C or C++, we prtient SpC, a solution to synth=ize and optimize a C model with pointers. In hardware, a pointer is not ody the address of data in memory, but it may *O reference mtitiple variablw mapped to registers, ports or wire. Pointer anrdysis is used to fid the point-to-set of each pointer in the program. b thii paper, we address the problem of synthesizing and optimizing pointers to multiple variablm and array elements. Temporary variablti are defined to optimize loads and stores by minimizing the number of live variabl=. The combinational logic can *O be reduced by encoding the pointers vdu=. A implementation using the SUE framework is presented, followed by some case studies such as the synthwis of a 2D~CT.