Exposed Datapath for Efficient Computing

Report, 2006

We introduce FlexCore, which is the first exemplar of a processor based on the FlexSoC processor paradigm. The FlexCore utilizes an exposed datapath for increased performance. Microbenchmarks yield a performance boost of a factor of two over a traditional five-stage pipeline with the same functional units as the FlexCore. We describe our approach to compiling for the FlexCore. A flexible interconnect allows the FlexCore datapath to be dynamically reconfigured as a consequence of code generation. Additionally, specialized functional units may be introduced and utilized within the same architecture and compilation framework. The exposed datapath requires a wide control word. The conducted evaluation of two micro benchmarks confirms that this increases the instruction bandwidth and memory footprint. This calls for an efficient instruction decoding as proposed in the FlexSoC paradigm.