EEL 5934: The RC Modeling Language RCML

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EEL 5934 The RC Modeling Language (RCML)
Dr. Alan D. George Professor of ECE University of
Florida Dr. Herman Lam Assoc. Professor of
ECE University of Florida Dr. Greg Stitt Asst.
Professor of ECE University of Florida
Dr. Saumil Merchant Research Scientist University
of Florida Casey Reardon Brian Holland Karthik
Nagarajan Gongyu Wang Research Students University
of Florida
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Introduction / Motivation

• Coding for RC is often difficult and time
  consuming due to a number of factors
• Efficient use of parallelism required to exploit
  performance potential of devices
• Limited resources available on device
• PAR may take hours, limiting the number of
  design/debug iterations per day, etc.
• Problem compounded when original design do not
  meet project requirements
• Engineers often must perform multiple full design
  iterations before completing project
• Lack of tools to effectively lay out your design
  and ensure that final product will meet specs
• What if there was a way to efficiently model and
  plan your design before implementation, allowing
  you to catch design flaws before coding

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RCML Overview

• RC Modeling Language (RCML) an abstract modeling
  language for RC
• Intended to allow users to quickly layout and
  analyze their design before coding an
  implementation
• Graphical, block-oriented modeling environment,
  no writing of code
• RCML model editor under development
• RCML includes 3 classes of models
• Algorithm models specialized task graphs with
  constructs for parallelism
• Architecture models collection of highly tunable
  generic platform components
• System models an algorithm model mapped onto an
  architecture model
• Multiple mapping processes to support multiple
  levels of abstraction
• Allow reuse of algorithm and architecture models
  across numerous mappings

RCML Concept Diagram
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RCML Algorithm Constructs

• Function blocks are fundamental building block of
  algorithm models
• Data-driven function block - contains only data
  inputs
• Control-driven function block - triggered by
  changes to control signals, e.g. a FSM output
• Iterative attrivute to define multiple executions
  per firing
• Two forms of data constructs data set (finite,
  asynchronous) and data stream (continuous)
• Two explicit structures for defining parallelism
• Process lines (deep parallelism)
• Can define number of stages, inputs, outputs,
  etc.
• Duplicates, a.k.a. data-path replication (wide
  parallelism)
• Allow user to specify multiple instances of
  single function box
• Can be mapped within single device or across
  nodes
• Built-in patterns for communications to/from
  duplicates

RCML Data Set
RCML Process Line
RCML Duplicates Example
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RCML Algorithm Constructs
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RCML Architecture Constructs

• Architecture models used to define makeup and
  capabilities of the RC execution platform
• Includes several classes of architecture
  components
• e.g. processor, RC device, bus, memory, etc.
• For this project, architecture models should
  simply be a processor and RC device connected
  by a bus
• Attributes used to refine generic components
  into instances of a specific device
• See attributes slide later

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RCML Architecture Constructs
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RCML Attributes

• Attributes in RCML used to refine generic
  constructs into specific/detailed model
  components
• e.g. define size and speed attributes for a
  memory block to represent a SRAM, DRAM, storage
  disk, etc.
• Embed performance attributes in function blocks
• e.g. computational latency
• Attributes are selectable/editable in the
  Attributes property tab for any component
• Table in properties tab displays all attributes
  currently defined for component
• Use buttons/dialogs to add and edit attributes
  (sorry, double-click editing not supported yet)

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RCML System Mapping

• System model maps an algorithm model onto an
  architecture model
• Each half of system model viewed one at a time
• Change perspective to switch views in system
  model
• Tool currently supports two basic system mapping
  functions
• Mapping function blocks to processing elements
• Mapping data blocks to starting and final memory
  locations
• Dialogs found in mapping properties tab of system
  model elements

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Eclipse RCML Editor

• A graphical editor for creating RCML models
  developed this year in Eclipse
• Eclipse is an open development platform comprised
  of extensible frameworks, tools and runtimes for
  building, deploying and managing software across
  the lifecycle
• See www.eclipse.org
• RCML editor exists as plugin to Eclipse
• Thus, RCML model editing capabilities integrated
  into Eclipse after plugin installation
• RCML tool still in early phases of development
• Most advanced features not supported yet, so keep
  your models simple!

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Eclipse RCML Editor
Palette choose components here to place on canvas
Properties tab display/edit properties of model
or selected component
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RCML RAT Analysis Tool

• Automatically generates analytic performance
  prediction
• Users must define basic computational
  requirements of algorithm
• e.g. number of data elements being operated
  upon, number of computational operations
  performed per element, and number of operations
  circuit can perform per clock cycle
• Will provide instructions detailing exact
  parameters required for RAT analysis
• Tool must read set of pre-defined attributes in
  model to perform prediction
• Launch by right-clicking canvas of system model
  and selecting Launch RAT from menu

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RCML Demo
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Assignment

• The tool will be made available for download soon
  from the class webpage
• Instructions for installing Eclipse and RCML
  editor will be provided
• Build an RCML model (algorithm, architecture, and
  system) of your class project and RECORD TIME
  SPENT ON IT
• It is important that this time is recorded and
  accurate, so please take this seriously
• Overall time with RCML should not be long, i.e.
  1-2 hours
• Use the RAT tool to obtain a performance estimate
  from your model
• A guide instructing how to define performance
  parameters for use with RAT tool will be provided