A Framework for Extensible Processor Based MPSoC Design

Multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC) architectures have emerged as a popular solution to the ever-increasing performance requirements of embedded systems. MPSoC architectures that are customized to a specific application or domain have the potential to achieve very high performance, while also requiring low power consumption. The recent emergence of extensible processors has greatly facilitated the design of efficient yet flexible application-specific processors, making them a promising building block for MPSoC architectures. However, the inter-dependent multiprocessor, co-processor, and custom instruction design problems result in a huge design space. Therefore, efficient tools are needed that assist designers to create high-quality architectures in limited time. In this chapter, we describe a framework that generates extensible processor based MPSoC architectures for a given application, by synergistically exploring custom instruction, co-processor, and multiprocessor optimizations. The framework automatically maps embedded applications to MPSoC architectures, aiming to minimize application execution time and energy consumption, while the overall area for the MPSoC is kept within a given budget.