The HLS Bluebook: got your copy yet?

With every new technology comes a learning curve, and High-Level Synthesis isn’t different in this respect. Ramping up on a new tool obviously means learning its knobs and switches, but most importantly when it comes to synthesis, the ultimate key to successful results is to learn and understand the proper coding style.

Let’s time warp back to 1994. Back then I was learning RTL synthesis and picking up VHDL. A lot of the tools I used back then are not around anymore, but one thing - the most important - remains. And that is the coding style. For sure I followed training, ran many labs and conducted plenty trials and experiments. But the one thing that helped me most, that I always kept at hand on my desk, was a thick book, with a green and blue cover, authored by Jacques Rouillard, Roland Airiau, Jean-Michel Berge and Vincent Olive.

The recent publication of the High-Level Synthesis Bluebook, by author Michael Fingeroff, is an invaluable step in towards facilitating the adoption of this technology. It is a comprehensive guide for designing hardware using C++ and is written for hardware and system designers who are either using or planning to move to a high-level synthesis design environment. The concepts are thoroughly illustrated with numerous code examples and rich supporting graphics of hardware and timing diagrams. Starting from simple practical cases, the examples ultimately translate to much larger, more complex designs typical of today’s multi-core SoC designs.

When I learned VHDL, I learned two things, not just one. Of course, I learned the coding style for RTL synthesis, but I also learned what to expect from this new breed of tools. The same holds true today with the HLS and the new and much needed “Bluebook”, and this is probably the most important to understand when adopting such a new design approach.

Preparing Recommendations

The High-Level Synthesis Bluebook is available online by clicking here. Author Michael Fingeroff will also be hosting a free webinar on June 23rd where he will be presenting the book. And if you are attending DAC next week, you may also want to know that Mentor Graphics will be giving away one copy of the book per Catapult C suite session. That’s another good reason to register! See you there in Anaheim…

More Blog Posts

Preparing Recommendations