At ICsense, we support the development of Application-Specific Instruction-Set Processors (ASIPs)—custom processors tailored to efficiently execute specific types of algorithms. Unlike general-purpose CPUs, ASIPs are optimized for particular application domains, making them ideal for tasks that require high performance and efficiency, such as signal processing or cryptographic operations.
From Algorithm to Hardware
The design process begins with an executable specification of the algorithm, written in a high-level programming language. This specification includes familiar programming constructs such as loops, conditional statements, and function calls. At its core, it uses the operations and function calls that define the processor’s instruction set.
One of the key advantages of this approach is that the algorithm can be fully verified at the high level, using modern software development tools. This ensures correctness and allows for rapid iteration and testing. The verified specification then serves as the foundation for the hardware design.
Compiler-Driven Customization
Using modern software techniques, ICsense has developed a methodology to write application-specific compilers that translate the high-level specification into machine code. These compilers automatically implement the control logic of the algorithm, significantly reducing manual design effort and enabling reuse across projects.
The compilation process involves several stages: the high-level code is first compiled into a collection of instructions per function, which is then flattened and converted into assembly code. Symbolic representations are replaced with bit-level encodings, resulting in machine code that can be directly loaded into the ASIP.
Hardware Implementation
The ASIP itself is a custom hardware design that includes a datapath, local registers, and a control unit. It fetches and executes the machine code generated by the compiler. By storing this code in non-volatile memory, the design remains flexible—updates and optimizations can be made without altering the hardware, allowing for engineering change orders (ECOs) and performance tuning even after deployment.
Why Choose ASIP-Based Design?
Compared to traditional RTL-based design, the ASIP methodology offers several compelling benefits. The use of a high-level executable specification as a verified starting point accelerates development and reduces errors. Automatic implementation of control logic streamlines the design process, while the ability to update machine code post-silicon provides unmatched flexibility.
Real-World Applications
ICsense has successfully applied this methodology to a range of applications. For example, a DSP processor was developed with a datapath optimized for multiply-accumulate operations, making it suitable for algorithms such as filtering, CORDIC, and convolution.. Another project involved an AES-128 encryption engine, where the datapath was tailored for cryptographic operations and included special instructions for accessing local registers in matrix form..
