Post a CommentCriticalBlue details single-threaded multicore methodology
By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- Electronic News, 5/14/2007
To allow multicore platform design while eliminating application redevelopment for multiple threads, San Jose, Calif.–based embedded microprocessor accelerated software supplier CriticalBlue said today it has added multicore development capability to its Cascade coprocessor synthesis solution.
David Stewart, CriticalBlue CEO explained in a statement, “Multicore is not new, but its deployment is going through exponential growth. Primarily, this is being driven by today’s power consumption constraints requiring concurrency to be exploited at all levels and, together with the dominance of product functionality in software requiring high-performance programmable engines, it is clear that system complexities have outgrown manual multicore methodologies.”
“By engaging with customers and specifically noting the importance of legacy software and associated development techniques, it became obvious to us that what the market needs is a pragmatic multicore methodology, and that our revolutionary synthesis and analysis technology can deliver it,” Stewart added.
CriticalBlue said its multicore methodology uses the Cascade tool’s profile-driven approach to deliver an incremental solution for end users.
Key elements of CriticalBlue’s tool flow include a starting point of standard C/C++ single threaded code with no language restrictions or extensions and an analysis environment which allows developers to identify performance bottlenecks in the code, together with any dependencies that inhibit task-level parallelism.
Also, dependency visualization is included to help guide the developer toward code re-factorings to optimize multicore performance and power consumption while refactored code abilities allow unrestricted C/C++ code, and a multicore mapping capability allows developers to target blocks of software functionality onto particular coprocessors.
Meanwhile, multicore coprocessor synthesis features use existing Cascade synthesis technology to meet performance and power requirements, and multicore communication synthesis creates a direct inter-coprocessor communication infrastructure, minimizing memory contention and system bus bottlenecks.
In embedded system operation, the existing processor resources execute their assigned software tasks in their normal manner, while the multicore coprocessor array autonomously executes parallel tasks, with all data dependencies correctly observed.
CriticalBlue said its Cascade multicore methodology is meant to allow the development of an array of automatically-synthesized, coordinated, application-optimized programmable coprocessors, each of which executes parallel tasks extracted from the original single-threaded software description.
The programmable multicore array – together with existing processing resources such as general purpose processors and DSPs – allows balanced, optimized distribution of software tasks that meets the system’s performance and power consumption targets, as well as reduces – or even eliminates – the need for custom fixed-function hardware accelerators, the company said.
Finally, individual Cascade coprocessors can be synthesized for multiple processing tasks, and the array can be readily reprogrammed with new and updated software tasks as the target applications evolve to address new market needs, the company concluded.
