ROVER: RTL optimization via verified e-graph rewriting
OA Location
Author(s)
Coward, Samuel
Drane, Theo
Constantinides, George A
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Manual RTL design and optimization remains prevalent across the semiconductor industry because commercial logic and high-level synthesis tools are unable to match human designs. Our experience in industrial datapath design demonstrates that manual optimization can typically be decomposed into a sequence of local equivalence preserving transformations. By formulating datapath optimization as a graph rewriting problem we automate design space exploration in a tool we call ROVER. We develop a set of mixed precision RTL rewrite rules inspired by designers at Intel and an accompanying automated validation framework. A particular challenge in datapath design is to determine a productive order in which to apply transformations as this can be design dependent. ROVER resolves this problem by building upon the e-graph data structure, which compactly represents a design space of equivalent implementations. By applying rewrites to this data structure, ROVER generates a set of efficient and functionally equivalent design options. From the ROVER generated e-graph we select an efficient implementation. To accurately model the circuit area we develop a theoretical cost metric and then an integer linear programming model to extract the optimal implementation. To build trust in the generated design ROVER also produces a back-end verification certificate that can be checked using industrial tools. We apply ROVER to both Intel-provided and open-source benchmarks, and see up to a 63% reduction in circuit area. ROVER is also able to generate a customized library of distinct implementations from a given parameterizable RTL design, improving circuit area across the range of possible instantiations.
Date Issued
2024-12-01
Date Acceptance
2024-06-01
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Computer - Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, 2024, 43 (12), pp.4687-4700
ISSN
0278-0070
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
4687
End Page
4700
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Computer - Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems
Volume
43
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2024 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tcad.2024.3410154
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-06-05