BitValue Inference: Detecting and Exploiting Narrow Bitwidth Computations

Abstract

The authors present a compiler algorithm called BitValue, which can discover unused and constant bits in dusty-deck C programs. BitValue uses forward and backward dataflow analyses, generalizing constant-folding and dead-code detection at the bit-level. This algorithm enables compiler optimizations targeting special processor architectures for computing on non-standard bitwidths. Using this algorithm, they show that up to 36% of the computed bytes are thrown away. Also, they show that on average 26.8% of the values computed require 16 bits or less (for programs from SpecINT95 and Mediabench). A compiler for reconfigurable hardware uses this algorithm to achieve substantial reductions (up to 20-fold) in the size of the synthesized circuits.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2000
Accession Number
ADA458537

Entities

People

  • Mihai Budiu
  • Seth C. Goldstein

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algorithms
  • Compilers
  • Computations
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Computing Devices
  • Computing System Architectures
  • Heuristic Methods
  • High Level Languages
  • Instruction Set Architecture
  • Instructions
  • Intervals
  • Iterations
  • Language
  • Precision
  • Software-Defined Hardware
  • Transfer Functions

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Materials Science.
  • Parallel and Distributed Computing.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - Bayesian Inference