7 %% http://www.michaelshell.org/
8 %% for current contact information.
10 %% This is a skeleton file demonstrating the use of IEEEtran.cls
11 %% (requires IEEEtran.cls version 1.7 or later) with an IEEE conference paper.
14 %% http://www.michaelshell.org/tex/ieeetran/
15 %% http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/IEEEtran/
17 %% http://www.ieee.org/
19 %%*************************************************************************
21 %% This code is offered as-is without any warranty either expressed or
22 %% implied; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
23 %% FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE!
24 %% User assumes all risk.
25 %% In no event shall IEEE or any contributor to this code be liable for
26 %% any damages or losses, including, but not limited to, incidental,
27 %% consequential, or any other damages, resulting from the use or misuse
28 %% of any information contained here.
30 %% All comments are the opinions of their respective authors and are not
31 %% necessarily endorsed by the IEEE.
33 %% This work is distributed under the LaTeX Project Public License (LPPL)
34 %% ( http://www.latex-project.org/ ) version 1.3, and may be freely used,
35 %% distributed and modified. A copy of the LPPL, version 1.3, is included
36 %% in the base LaTeX documentation of all distributions of LaTeX released
37 %% 2003/12/01 or later.
38 %% Retain all contribution notices and credits.
39 %% ** Modified files should be clearly indicated as such, including **
40 %% ** renaming them and changing author support contact information. **
42 %% File list of work: IEEEtran.cls, IEEEtran_HOWTO.pdf, bare_adv.tex,
43 %% bare_conf.tex, bare_jrnl.tex, bare_jrnl_compsoc.tex
44 %%*************************************************************************
46 % *** Authors should verify (and, if needed, correct) their LaTeX system ***
47 % *** with the testflow diagnostic prior to trusting their LaTeX platform ***
48 % *** with production work. IEEE's font choices can trigger bugs that do ***
49 % *** not appear when using other class files. ***
50 % The testflow support page is at:
51 % http://www.michaelshell.org/tex/testflow/
55 % Note that the a4paper option is mainly intended so that authors in
56 % countries using A4 can easily print to A4 and see how their papers will
57 % look in print - the typesetting of the document will not typically be
58 % affected with changes in paper size (but the bottom and side margins will).
59 % Use the testflow package mentioned above to verify correct handling of
60 % both paper sizes by the user's LaTeX system.
62 % Also note that the "draftcls" or "draftclsnofoot", not "draft", option
63 % should be used if it is desired that the figures are to be displayed in
67 \documentclass[conference,pdf,a4paper,10pt,final,twoside,twocolumn]{IEEEtran}
68 % Add the compsoc option for Computer Society conferences.
70 % If IEEEtran.cls has not been installed into the LaTeX system files,
71 % manually specify the path to it like:
72 % \documentclass[conference]{../sty/IEEEtran}
74 % Some very useful LaTeX packages include:
75 % (uncomment the ones you want to load)
77 % *** MISC UTILITY PACKAGES ***
80 % Heiko Oberdiek's ifpdf.sty is very useful if you need conditional
81 % compilation based on whether the output is pdf or dvi.
88 % The latest version of ifpdf.sty can be obtained from:
89 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/oberdiek/
90 % Also, note that IEEEtran.cls V1.7 and later provides a builtin
91 % \ifCLASSINFOpdf conditional that works the same way.
92 % When switching from latex to pdflatex and vice-versa, the compiler may
93 % have to be run twice to clear warning/error messages.
97 % *** CITATION PACKAGES ***
100 % cite.sty was written by Donald Arseneau
101 % V1.6 and later of IEEEtran pre-defines the format of the cite.sty package
102 % \cite{} output to follow that of IEEE. Loading the cite package will
103 % result in citation numbers being automatically sorted and properly
104 % "compressed/ranged". e.g., [1], [9], [2], [7], [5], [6] without using
105 % cite.sty will become [1], [2], [5]--[7], [9] using cite.sty. cite.sty's
106 % \cite will automatically add leading space, if needed. Use cite.sty's
107 % noadjust option (cite.sty V3.8 and later) if you want to turn this off.
108 % cite.sty is already installed on most LaTeX systems. Be sure and use
109 % version 4.0 (2003-05-27) and later if using hyperref.sty. cite.sty does
110 % not currently provide for hyperlinked citations.
111 % The latest version can be obtained at:
112 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/cite/
113 % The documentation is contained in the cite.sty file itself.
120 % *** GRAPHICS RELATED PACKAGES ***
123 \usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx}
124 % declare the path(s) where your graphic files are
125 % \graphicspath{{../pdf/}{../jpeg/}}
126 % and their extensions so you won't have to specify these with
127 % every instance of \includegraphics
128 % \DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.jpeg,.png}
130 % or other class option (dvipsone, dvipdf, if not using dvips). graphicx
131 % will default to the driver specified in the system graphics.cfg if no
132 % driver is specified.
133 % \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx}
134 % declare the path(s) where your graphic files are
135 % \graphicspath{{../eps/}}
136 % and their extensions so you won't have to specify these with
137 % every instance of \includegraphics
138 % \DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.eps}
140 % graphicx was written by David Carlisle and Sebastian Rahtz. It is
141 % required if you want graphics, photos, etc. graphicx.sty is already
142 % installed on most LaTeX systems. The latest version and documentation can
144 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/graphics/
145 % Another good source of documentation is "Using Imported Graphics in
146 % LaTeX2e" by Keith Reckdahl which can be found as epslatex.ps or
147 % epslatex.pdf at: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/
149 % latex, and pdflatex in dvi mode, support graphics in encapsulated
150 % postscript (.eps) format. pdflatex in pdf mode supports graphics
151 % in .pdf, .jpeg, .png and .mps (metapost) formats. Users should ensure
152 % that all non-photo figures use a vector format (.eps, .pdf, .mps) and
153 % not a bitmapped formats (.jpeg, .png). IEEE frowns on bitmapped formats
154 % which can result in "jaggedy"/blurry rendering of lines and letters as
155 % well as large increases in file sizes.
157 % You can find documentation about the pdfTeX application at:
158 % http://www.tug.org/applications/pdftex
164 % *** MATH PACKAGES ***
166 %\usepackage[cmex10]{amsmath}
167 % A popular package from the American Mathematical Society that provides
168 % many useful and powerful commands for dealing with mathematics. If using
169 % it, be sure to load this package with the cmex10 option to ensure that
170 % only type 1 fonts will utilized at all point sizes. Without this option,
171 % it is possible that some math symbols, particularly those within
172 % footnotes, will be rendered in bitmap form which will result in a
173 % document that can not be IEEE Xplore compliant!
175 % Also, note that the amsmath package sets \interdisplaylinepenalty to 10000
176 % thus preventing page breaks from occurring within multiline equations. Use:
177 %\interdisplaylinepenalty=2500
178 % after loading amsmath to restore such page breaks as IEEEtran.cls normally
179 % does. amsmath.sty is already installed on most LaTeX systems. The latest
180 % version and documentation can be obtained at:
181 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/amslatex/math/
187 % *** SPECIALIZED LIST PACKAGES ***
189 %\usepackage{algorithmic}
190 % algorithmic.sty was written by Peter Williams and Rogerio Brito.
191 % This package provides an algorithmic environment fo describing algorithms.
192 % You can use the algorithmic environment in-text or within a figure
193 % environment to provide for a floating algorithm. Do NOT use the algorithm
194 % floating environment provided by algorithm.sty (by the same authors) or
195 % algorithm2e.sty (by Christophe Fiorio) as IEEE does not use dedicated
196 % algorithm float types and packages that provide these will not provide
197 % correct IEEE style captions. The latest version and documentation of
198 % algorithmic.sty can be obtained at:
199 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/algorithms/
200 % There is also a support site at:
201 % http://algorithms.berlios.de/index.html
202 % Also of interest may be the (relatively newer and more customizable)
203 % algorithmicx.sty package by Szasz Janos:
204 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/algorithmicx/
209 % *** ALIGNMENT PACKAGES ***
212 % Frank Mittelbach's and David Carlisle's array.sty patches and improves
213 % the standard LaTeX2e array and tabular environments to provide better
214 % appearance and additional user controls. As the default LaTeX2e table
215 % generation code is lacking to the point of almost being broken with
216 % respect to the quality of the end results, all users are strongly
217 % advised to use an enhanced (at the very least that provided by array.sty)
218 % set of table tools. array.sty is already installed on most systems. The
219 % latest version and documentation can be obtained at:
220 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/tools/
223 %\usepackage{mdwmath}
225 % Also highly recommended is Mark Wooding's extremely powerful MDW tools,
226 % especially mdwmath.sty and mdwtab.sty which are used to format equations
227 % and tables, respectively. The MDWtools set is already installed on most
228 % LaTeX systems. The lastest version and documentation is available at:
229 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/mdwtools/
232 % IEEEtran contains the IEEEeqnarray family of commands that can be used to
233 % generate multiline equations as well as matrices, tables, etc., of high
237 %\usepackage{eqparbox}
238 % Also of notable interest is Scott Pakin's eqparbox package for creating
239 % (automatically sized) equal width boxes - aka "natural width parboxes".
241 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/eqparbox/
247 % *** SUBFIGURE PACKAGES ***
248 %\usepackage[tight,footnotesize]{subfigure}
249 % subfigure.sty was written by Steven Douglas Cochran. This package makes it
250 % easy to put subfigures in your figures. e.g., "Figure 1a and 1b". For IEEE
251 % work, it is a good idea to load it with the tight package option to reduce
252 % the amount of white space around the subfigures. subfigure.sty is already
253 % installed on most LaTeX systems. The latest version and documentation can
255 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/obsolete/macros/latex/contrib/subfigure/
256 % subfigure.sty has been superceeded by subfig.sty.
260 %\usepackage[caption=false]{caption}
261 %\usepackage[font=footnotesize]{subfig}
262 % subfig.sty, also written by Steven Douglas Cochran, is the modern
263 % replacement for subfigure.sty. However, subfig.sty requires and
264 % automatically loads Axel Sommerfeldt's caption.sty which will override
265 % IEEEtran.cls handling of captions and this will result in nonIEEE style
266 % figure/table captions. To prevent this problem, be sure and preload
267 % caption.sty with its "caption=false" package option. This is will preserve
268 % IEEEtran.cls handing of captions. Version 1.3 (2005/06/28) and later
269 % (recommended due to many improvements over 1.2) of subfig.sty supports
270 % the caption=false option directly:
271 %\usepackage[caption=false,font=footnotesize]{subfig}
273 % The latest version and documentation can be obtained at:
274 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/subfig/
275 % The latest version and documentation of caption.sty can be obtained at:
276 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/caption/
281 % *** FLOAT PACKAGES ***
283 %\usepackage{fixltx2e}
284 % fixltx2e, the successor to the earlier fix2col.sty, was written by
285 % Frank Mittelbach and David Carlisle. This package corrects a few problems
286 % in the LaTeX2e kernel, the most notable of which is that in current
287 % LaTeX2e releases, the ordering of single and double column floats is not
288 % guaranteed to be preserved. Thus, an unpatched LaTeX2e can allow a
289 % single column figure to be placed prior to an earlier double column
290 % figure. The latest version and documentation can be found at:
291 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/base/
295 %\usepackage{stfloats}
296 % stfloats.sty was written by Sigitas Tolusis. This package gives LaTeX2e
297 % the ability to do double column floats at the bottom of the page as well
298 % as the top. (e.g., "\begin{figure*}[!b]" is not normally possible in
299 % LaTeX2e). It also provides a command:
301 % to enable the placement of footnotes below bottom floats (the standard
302 % LaTeX2e kernel puts them above bottom floats). This is an invasive package
303 % which rewrites many portions of the LaTeX2e float routines. It may not work
304 % with other packages that modify the LaTeX2e float routines. The latest
305 % version and documentation can be obtained at:
306 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/sttools/
307 % Documentation is contained in the stfloats.sty comments as well as in the
308 % presfull.pdf file. Do not use the stfloats baselinefloat ability as IEEE
309 % does not allow \baselineskip to stretch. Authors submitting work to the
310 % IEEE should note that IEEE rarely uses double column equations and
311 % that authors should try to avoid such use. Do not be tempted to use the
312 % cuted.sty or midfloat.sty packages (also by Sigitas Tolusis) as IEEE does
313 % not format its papers in such ways.
319 % *** PDF, URL AND HYPERLINK PACKAGES ***
322 % url.sty was written by Donald Arseneau. It provides better support for
323 % handling and breaking URLs. url.sty is already installed on most LaTeX
324 % systems. The latest version can be obtained at:
325 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/misc/
326 % Read the url.sty source comments for usage information. Basically,
333 % *** Do not adjust lengths that control margins, column widths, etc. ***
334 % *** Do not use packages that alter fonts (such as pslatex). ***
335 % There should be no need to do such things with IEEEtran.cls V1.6 and later.
336 % (Unless specifically asked to do so by the journal or conference you plan
337 % to submit to, of course. )
339 % correct bad hyphenation here
340 \hyphenation{op-tical net-works semi-conduc-tor}
342 % Macro for certain acronyms in small caps. Doesn't work with the
343 % default font, though (it contains no smallcaps it seems).
344 \def\acro#1{{\small{#1}}}
345 \def\acrotiny#1{{\scriptsize{#1}}}
346 \def\VHDL{\acro{VHDL}}
348 \def\CLaSH{{\small{C}}$\lambda$a{\small{SH}}}
349 \def\CLaSHtiny{{\scriptsize{C}}$\lambda$a{\scriptsize{SH}}}
351 % Macro for pretty printing haskell snippets. Just monospaced for now, perhaps
352 % we'll get something more complex later on.
353 \def\hs#1{\texttt{#1}}
354 \def\quote#1{``{#1}"}
356 \newenvironment{xlist}[1][\rule{0em}{0em}]{%
358 \settowidth{\labelwidth}{#1:}
359 \setlength{\labelsep}{0.5em}
360 \setlength{\leftmargin}{\labelwidth}
361 \addtolength{\leftmargin}{\labelsep}
362 \addtolength{\leftmargin}{\parindent}
363 \setlength{\rightmargin}{0pt}
364 \setlength{\listparindent}{\parindent}
365 \setlength{\itemsep}{0 ex plus 0.2ex}
366 \renewcommand{\makelabel}[1]{##1:\hfil}
371 \usepackage{paralist}
373 \def\comment#1{{\color[rgb]{1.0,0.0,0.0}{#1}}}
375 \usepackage{cleveref}
376 \crefname{figure}{figure}{figures}
377 \newcommand{\fref}[1]{\cref{#1}}
378 \newcommand{\Fref}[1]{\Cref{#1}}
380 \usepackage{epstopdf}
382 \epstopdfDeclareGraphicsRule{.svg}{pdf}{.pdf}{rsvg-convert --format=pdf < #1 > \noexpand\OutputFile}
384 %include polycode.fmt
390 % can use linebreaks \\ within to get better formatting as desired
391 \title{C$\lambda$aSH: Structural Descriptions \\ of Synchronous Hardware using Haskell}
394 % author names and affiliations
395 % use a multiple column layout for up to three different
397 \author{\IEEEauthorblockN{Christiaan P.R. Baaij, Matthijs Kooijman, Jan Kuper, Marco E.T. Gerards}%, Bert Molenkamp, Sabih H. Gerez}
398 \IEEEauthorblockA{%Computer Architecture for Embedded Systems (CAES)\\
399 Department of EEMCS, University of Twente\\
400 P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, The Netherlands\\
401 c.p.r.baaij@@utwente.nl, matthijs@@stdin.nl, j.kuper@@utwente.nl}}
403 % \IEEEauthorblockN{Homer Simpson}
404 % \IEEEauthorblockA{Twentieth Century Fox\\
406 % Email: homer@thesimpsons.com}
408 % \IEEEauthorblockN{James Kirk\\ and Montgomery Scott}
409 % \IEEEauthorblockA{Starfleet Academy\\
410 % San Francisco, California 96678-2391\\
411 % Telephone: (800) 555--1212\\
412 % Fax: (888) 555--1212}}
414 % conference papers do not typically use \thanks and this command
415 % is locked out in conference mode. If really needed, such as for
416 % the acknowledgment of grants, issue a \IEEEoverridecommandlockouts
417 % after \documentclass
419 % for over three affiliations, or if they all won't fit within the width
420 % of the page, use this alternative format:
422 %\author{\IEEEauthorblockN{Michael Shell\IEEEauthorrefmark{1},
423 %Homer Simpson\IEEEauthorrefmark{2},
424 %James Kirk\IEEEauthorrefmark{3},
425 %Montgomery Scott\IEEEauthorrefmark{3} and
426 %Eldon Tyrell\IEEEauthorrefmark{4}}
427 %\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{1}School of Electrical and Computer Engineering\\
428 %Georgia Institute of Technology,
429 %Atlanta, Georgia 30332--0250\\ Email: see http://www.michaelshell.org/contact.html}
430 %\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{2}Twentieth Century Fox, Springfield, USA\\
431 %Email: homer@thesimpsons.com}
432 %\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{3}Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, California 96678-2391\\
433 %Telephone: (800) 555--1212, Fax: (888) 555--1212}
434 %\IEEEauthorblockA{\IEEEauthorrefmark{4}Tyrell Inc., 123 Replicant Street, Los Angeles, California 90210--4321}}
439 % use for special paper notices
440 %\IEEEspecialpapernotice{(Invited Paper)}
445 % make the title area
451 \CLaSH\ is a functional hardware description language that borrows both its
452 syntax and semantics from the functional programming language Haskell. Circuit
453 descriptions can be translated to synthesizable VHDL using the prototype
454 \CLaSH\ compiler. As the circuit descriptions are made in plain Haskell,
455 simulations can also be compiled by a Haskell compiler.
457 The use of polymorphism and higher-order functions allow a circuit designer to
458 describe more abstract and general specifications than are possible in the
459 traditional hardware description languages.
461 % IEEEtran.cls defaults to using nonbold math in the Abstract.
462 % This preserves the distinction between vectors and scalars. However,
463 % if the conference you are submitting to favors bold math in the abstract,
464 % then you can use LaTeX's standard command \boldmath at the very start
465 % of the abstract to achieve this. Many IEEE journals/conferences frown on
466 % math in the abstract anyway.
473 % For peer review papers, you can put extra information on the cover
475 % \ifCLASSOPTIONpeerreview
476 % \begin{center} \bfseries EDICS Category: 3-BBND \end{center}
479 % For peerreview papers, this IEEEtran command inserts a page break and
480 % creates the second title. It will be ignored for other modes.
481 \IEEEpeerreviewmaketitle
484 \section{Introduction}
485 Hardware description languages have allowed the productivity of hardware
486 engineers to keep pace with the development of chip technology. Standard
487 Hardware description languages, like \VHDL~\cite{VHDL2008} and
488 Verilog~\cite{Verilog}, allowed an engineer to describe circuits using a
489 programming language. These standard languages are very good at describing
490 detailed hardware properties such as timing behavior, but are generally
491 cumbersome in expressing higher-level abstractions. In an attempt to raise the
492 abstraction level of the descriptions, a great number of approaches based on
493 functional languages has been proposed \cite{T-Ruby,Hydra,HML2,Hawk1,Lava,
494 ForSyDe1,Wired,reFLect}. The idea of using functional languages for hardware
495 descriptions started in the early 1980s \cite{Cardelli1981, muFP,DAISY,FHDL},
496 a time which also saw the birth of the currently popular hardware description
497 languages such as \VHDL. Functional languages are especially suited to
498 describe hardware because combinational circuits can be directly modeled
499 as mathematical functions and that functional languages are very good at
500 describing and composing mathematical functions.
502 In an attempt to decrease the amount of work involved in creating all the
503 required tooling, such as parsers and type-checkers, many functional
504 hardware description languages \cite{Hydra,Hawk1,Lava,ForSyDe1,Wired}
505 are embedded as a domain specific language inside the functional
506 language Haskell \cite{Haskell}. This means that a developer is given a
507 library of Haskell functions and types that together form the language
508 primitives of the domain specific language. The primitive functions used
509 to describe a circuit do not actually process any signals, but instead
510 compose a large domain-specific datatype (which is usually hidden from
511 the designer). This datatype is then further processed by an embedded
512 circuit compiler. This circuit compiler actually runs in the same
513 environment as the description; as a result compile-time and run-time
514 become hard to define, as the embedded circuit compiler is usually
515 compiled by the same Haskell compiler as the circuit description itself.
517 The approach taken in this research is not to make another domain specific
518 language embedded in Haskell, but to use (a subset of) the Haskell language
519 itself for the purpose of describing hardware. By taking this approach, we can
520 capture certain language constructs, such as Haskell's choice elements
521 (if-expressions, case-expressions, pattern matching, etc.), which are not
522 available in the functional hardware description languages that are embedded
523 in Haskell as a domain specific language. As far as the authors know, such
524 extensive support for choice-elements is new in the domain of functional
525 hardware description languages. As the hardware descriptions are plain Haskell
526 functions, these descriptions can be compiled to an executable binary
527 for simulation using an optimizing Haskell compiler such as the Glasgow
528 Haskell Compiler (\GHC)~\cite{ghc}.
530 Where descriptions in a conventional hardware description language have an
531 explicit clock for the purpose state and synchronicity, the clock is implied
532 in this research. A developer describes the behavior of the hardware between
533 clock cycles. Many functional hardware description model signals as a stream
534 of all values over time; state is then modeled as a delay on this stream of
535 values. The approach taken in this research is to make the current state of a
536 circuit part of the input of the function and the updated state part of the
537 output. The current abstraction of state and time limits the descriptions to
538 synchronous hardware, there however is room within the language to eventually
539 add a different abstraction mechanism that will allow for the modeling of
540 asynchronous systems.
542 Like the standard hardware description languages, descriptions made in a
543 functional hardware description language must eventually be converted into a
544 netlist. This research also features a prototype translator, which has the
545 same name as the language: \CLaSH\footnote{\CLaSHtiny: \acrotiny{CAES}
546 Language for Synchronous Hardware} (pronounced: clash). This compiler converts
547 the Haskell code to equivalently behaving synthesizable \VHDL\ code, ready to
548 be converted to an actual netlist format by an (optimizing) \VHDL\ synthesis
551 Besides trivial circuits such as variants of both the FIR filter and the
552 simple CPU shown in \Cref{sec:usecases}, the \CLaSH\ compiler has also been
553 shown to work for non-trivial descriptions. \CLaSH\ has been able to
554 successfully translate the functional description of a streaming reduction
555 circuit~\cite{reductioncircuit} for floating point numbers.
557 \section{Hardware description in Haskell}
559 \subsection{Function application}
560 The basic syntactic elements of a functional program are functions
561 and function application. These have a single obvious translation to a
564 \item every function is translated to a component,
565 \item every function argument is translated to an input port,
566 \item the result value of a function is translated to an output port,
568 \item function applications are translated to component instantiations.
570 The output port can have a structured type (such as a tuple), so having
571 just a single output port does not pose any limitation. The actual arguments of a
572 function application are assigned to signals, which are then mapped to
573 the corresponding input ports of the component. The output port of the
574 function is also mapped to a signal, which is used as the result of the
577 Since every top level function generates its own component, the
578 hierarchy of function calls is reflected in the final netlist,% aswell,
579 creating a hierarchical description of the hardware. The separation in
580 different components makes it easier for a developer to understand and
581 possibly hand-optimize the resulting \VHDL\ output of the \CLaSH\
584 As an example we can see the netlist of the |mac| function in
585 \Cref{img:mac-comb}; the |mac| function applies both the |mul| and |add|
586 function to calculate $a * b + c$:
589 mac a b c = add (mul a b) c
593 \centerline{\includegraphics{mac.svg}}
594 \caption{Combinatorial Multiply-Accumulate}
598 The result of using a structural input type can be seen in
599 \cref{img:mac-comb-nocurry} where the |mac| function now uses a single
600 input tuple for the |a|, |b|, and |c| arguments:
603 mac (a, b, c) = add (mul a b) c
607 \centerline{\includegraphics{mac-nocurry.svg}}
608 \caption{Combinatorial Multiply-Accumulate (complex input)}
609 \label{img:mac-comb-nocurry}
613 In Haskell, choice can be achieved by a large set of syntacic elements,
614 consisting of: \hs{case} expressions, \hs{if-then-else} expressions,
615 pattern matching, and guards. The most general of these are the \hs{case}
616 expressions (\hs{if} expressions can be very directly translated to
617 \hs{case} expressions). A \hs{case} expression is translated to a
618 multiplexer, where the control value is fed into a number of
619 comparators and their output is used to compose the selection port
620 of the multiplexer. The result of each alternative is linked to the
621 corresponding input port on the multiplexer.
622 % A \hs{case} expression can in turn simply be translated to a conditional
623 % assignment in \VHDL, where the conditions use equality comparisons
624 % against the constructors in the \hs{case} expressions.
625 We can see two versions of a contrived example below, the first
626 using a \hs{case} expression and the other using an \hs{if-then-else}
627 expression. Both examples sums two values when they are
628 equal or non-equal (depending on the given predicate, the \hs{pred}
629 variable) and returns 0 otherwise. The \hs{pred} variable has the
630 following, user-defined, enumeration datatype:
633 data Pred = Equal | NotEqual
636 The naive netlist corresponding to both versions of the example is
637 depicted in \Cref{img:choice}.
640 sumif pred a b = case pred of
641 Equal -> case a == b of
644 NotEqual -> case a != b of
651 if pred == Equal then
652 if a == b then a + b else 0
654 if a != b then a + b else 0
658 \centerline{\includegraphics{choice-case.svg}}
659 \caption{Choice - sumif}
663 A user-friendly and also very powerful form of choice is pattern
664 matching. A function can be defined in multiple clauses, where each clause
665 corresponds to a pattern. When an argument matches a pattern, the
666 corresponding clause will be used. Expressions can also contain guards,
667 where the expression is only executed if the guard evaluates to true, and
668 continues with the next clause if the guard evaluates to false. Like
669 \hs{if-then-else} expressions, pattern matching and guards have a
670 (straightforward) translation to \hs{case} expressions and can as such be
671 mapped to multiplexers. A third version of the earlier example, using both
672 pattern matching and guards, can be seen below. The guard is the
673 expression that follows the vertical bar (\hs{|}) and precedes the
674 assignment operator (\hs{=}). The \hs{otherwise} guards always evaluate to
677 The version using pattern matching and guards corresponds to the same
678 naive netlist representation (\Cref{img:choice}) as the earlier two
679 versions of the example.
682 sumif Equal a b | a == b = a + b
684 sumif NotEqual a b | a != b = a + b
689 % \centerline{\includegraphics{choice-ifthenelse}}
690 % \caption{Choice - \emph{if-then-else}}
695 Haskell is a statically-typed language, meaning that the type of a
696 variable or function is determined at compile-time. Not all of Haskell's
697 typing constructs have a clear translation to hardware, this section will
698 therefore only deal with the types that do have a clear correspondence
699 to hardware. The translatable types are divided into two categories:
700 \emph{built-in} types and \emph{user-defined} types. Built-in types are
701 those types for which a fixed translation is defined within the \CLaSH\
702 compiler. The \CLaSH\ compiler has generic translation rules to
703 translated the user-defined types described below.
705 The \CLaSH compiler is able to infer unspecified types,
706 meaning that a developer does not have to annotate every function with a
707 type signature (though it is good practice to do so anyway).
709 % Translation of two most basic functional concepts has been
710 % discussed: function application and choice. Before looking further
711 % into less obvious concepts like higher-order expressions and
712 % polymorphism, the possible types that can be used in hardware
713 % descriptions will be discussed.
715 % Some way is needed to translate every value used to its hardware
716 % equivalents. In particular, this means a hardware equivalent for
717 % every \emph{type} used in a hardware description is needed.
719 % The following types are \emph{built-in}, meaning that their hardware
720 % translation is fixed into the \CLaSH\ compiler. A designer can also
721 % define his own types, which will be translated into hardware types
722 % using translation rules that are discussed later on.
724 \subsubsection{Built-in types}
725 The following types have fixed translations defined within the \CLaSH\
729 the most basic type available. It can have two values:
730 \hs{Low} or \hs{High}.
731 % It is mapped directly onto the \texttt{std\_logic} \VHDL\ type.
733 this is a basic logic type. It can have two values: \hs{True}
735 % It is translated to \texttt{std\_logic} exactly like the \hs{Bit}
736 % type (where a value of \hs{True} corresponds to a value of
738 Supporting the Bool type is required in order to support the
739 \hs{if-then-else} expression, which requires a \hs{Bool} value for
741 \item[\bf{SizedWord}, \bf{SizedInt}]
742 these are types to represent integers. A \hs{SizedWord} is unsigned,
743 while a \hs{SizedInt} is signed. Both are parametrizable in their
745 % , so you can define an unsigned word of 32 bits wide as follows:
748 % type Word32 = SizedWord D32
751 % Here, a type synonym \hs{Word32} is defined that is equal to the
752 % \hs{SizedWord} type constructor applied to the type \hs{D32}.
753 % \hs{D32} is the \emph{type level representation} of the decimal
754 % number 32, making the \hs{Word32} type a 32-bit unsigned word. These
755 % types are translated to the \VHDL\ \texttt{unsigned} and
756 % \texttt{signed} respectively.
758 this is a vector type that can contain elements of any other type and
759 has a fixed length. The \hs{Vector} type constructor takes two type
760 arguments: the length of the vector and the type of the elements
761 contained in it. The short-hand notation used for the vector type in
762 the rest of paper is: \hs{[a|n]}. Where the \hs{a} is the element
763 type, and \hs{n} is the length of the vector. Note that this is
764 a notation used in this paper only, vectors are slightly more
765 elaborate in real \CLaSH programs.
766 % The state type of an 8 element register bank would then for example
770 % type RegisterState = Vector D8 Word32
773 % Here, a type synonym \hs{RegisterState} is defined that is equal to
774 % the \hs{Vector} type constructor applied to the types \hs{D8} (The
775 % type level representation of the decimal number 8) and \hs{Word32}
776 % (The 32 bit word type as defined above). In other words, the
777 % \hs{RegisterState} type is a vector of 8 32-bit words. A fixed size
778 % vector is translated to a \VHDL\ array type.
780 this is another type to describe integers, but unlike the previous
781 two it has no specific bit-width, but an upper bound. This means that
782 its range is not limited to powers of two, but can be any number.
783 An \hs{Index} only has an upper bound, its lower bound is
784 implicitly zero. The main purpose of the \hs{Index} type is to be
785 used as an index to a \hs{Vector}.
787 % \comment{TODO: Perhaps remove this example?} To define an index for
788 % the 8 element vector above, we would do:
791 % type RegisterIndex = RangedWord D7
794 % Here, a type synonym \hs{RegisterIndex} is defined that is equal to
795 % the \hs{RangedWord} type constructor applied to the type \hs{D7}. In
796 % other words, this defines an unsigned word with values from
797 % 0 to 7 (inclusive). This word can be be used to index the
798 % 8 element vector \hs{RegisterState} above. This type is translated
799 % to the \texttt{unsigned} \VHDL type.
802 \subsubsection{User-defined types}
803 There are three ways to define new types in Haskell: algebraic
804 data-types with the \hs{data} keyword, type synonyms with the \hs{type}
805 keyword and datatype renaming constructs with the \hs{newtype} keyword.
806 \GHC\ offers a few more advanced ways to introduce types (type families,
807 existential typing, {\acro{GADT}}s, etc.) which are not standard Haskell.
808 As it is currently unclear how these advanced type constructs correspond
809 to hardware, they are for now unsupported by the \CLaSH\ compiler.
811 Only an algebraic datatype declaration actually introduces a
812 completely new type. Type synonyms and type renaming only define new
813 names for existing types, where synonyms are completely interchangeable
814 and type renaming requires explicit conversions. Therefore, these do not
815 need any particular translation, a synonym or renamed type will just use
816 the same representation as the original type. For algebraic types, we can
817 make the following distinctions:
820 \item[\bf{Single constructor}]
821 Algebraic datatypes with a single constructor with one or more
822 fields, are essentially a way to pack a few values together in a
823 record-like structure. Haskell's built-in tuple types are also defined
824 as single constructor algebraic types (but with a bit of
825 syntactic sugar). An example of a single constructor type is the
826 following pair of integers:
828 data IntPair = IntPair Int Int
830 % These types are translated to \VHDL\ record types, with one field
831 % for every field in the constructor.
832 \item[\bf{No fields}]
833 Algebraic datatypes with multiple constructors, but without any
834 fields are essentially a way to get an enumeration-like type
835 containing alternatives. Note that Haskell's \hs{Bool} type is also
836 defined as an enumeration type, but that there is a fixed translation for
837 that type within the \CLaSH\ compiler. An example of such an
838 enumeration type is the type that represents the colors in a traffic
841 data TrafficLight = Red | Orange | Green
843 % These types are translated to \VHDL\ enumerations, with one
844 % value for each constructor. This allows references to these
845 % constructors to be translated to the corresponding enumeration
847 \item[\bf{Multiple constructors with fields}]
848 Algebraic datatypes with multiple constructors, where at least
849 one of these constructors has one or more fields are currently not
853 \subsection{Polymorphism}
854 A powerful feature of most (functional) programming languages is
855 polymorphism, it allows a function to handle values of different data
856 types in a uniform way. Haskell supports \emph{parametric
857 polymorphism}~\cite{polymorphism}, meaning functions can be written
858 without mention of any specific type and can be used transparently with
859 any number of new types.
861 As an example of a parametric polymorphic function, consider the type of
862 the following \hs{append} function, which appends an element to a
863 vector:\footnote{The \hs{::} operator is used to annotate a function
864 with its type in \CLaSH}
867 append :: [a|n] -> a -> [a|n + 1]
870 This type is parameterized by \hs{a}, which can contain any type at
871 all. This means that \hs{append} can append an element to a vector,
872 regardless of the type of the elements in the list (as long as the type of
873 the value to be added is of the same type as the values in the vector).
874 This kind of polymorphism is extremely useful in hardware designs to make
875 operations work on a vector without knowing exactly what elements are
876 inside, routing signals without knowing exactly what kinds of signals
877 these are, or working with a vector without knowing exactly how long it
878 is. Polymorphism also plays an important role in most higher order
879 functions, as we will see in the next section.
881 Another type of polymorphism is \emph{ad-hoc
882 polymorphism}~\cite{polymorphism}, which refers to polymorphic
883 functions which can be applied to arguments of different types, but which
884 behave differently depending on the type of the argument to which they are
885 applied. In Haskell, ad-hoc polymorphism is achieved through the use of
886 type classes, where a class definition provides the general interface of a
887 function, and class instances define the functionality for the specific
888 types. An example of such a type class is the \hs{Num} class, which
889 contains all of Haskell's numerical operations. A designer can make use
890 of this ad-hoc polymorphism by adding a constraint to a parametrically
891 polymorphic type variable. Such a constraint indicates that the type
892 variable can only be instantiated to a type whose members supports the
893 overloaded functions associated with the type class.
895 As an example we will take a look at type signature of the function
896 \hs{sum}, which sums the values in a vector:
898 sum :: Num a => [a|n] -> a
901 This type is again parameterized by \hs{a}, but it can only contain
902 types that are \emph{instances} of the \emph{type class} \hs{Num}, so that
903 we know that the addition (+) operator is defined for that type.
904 \CLaSH's built-in numerical types are also instances of the \hs{Num}
905 class, so we can use the addition operator (and thus the \hs{sum}
906 function) with \hs{SizedWords} as well as with \hs{SizedInts}.
908 In \CLaSH, parametric polymorphism is completely supported. Any function
909 defined can have any number of unconstrained type parameters. The \CLaSH\
910 compiler will infer the type of every such argument depending on how the
911 function is applied. There is however one constraint: the top level
912 function that is being translated can not have any polymorphic arguments.
913 The arguments can not be polymorphic as the function is never applied and
914 consequently there is no way to determine the actual types for the type
917 \CLaSH\ does not support user-defined type classes, but does use some
918 of the standard Haskell type classes for its built-in function, such as:
919 \hs{Num} for numerical operations, \hs{Eq} for the equality operators, and
920 \hs{Ord} for the comparison/order operators.
922 \subsection{Higher-order functions \& values}
923 Another powerful abstraction mechanism in functional languages, is
924 the concept of \emph{higher-order functions}, or \emph{functions as
925 a first class value}. This allows a function to be treated as a
926 value and be passed around, even as the argument of another
927 function. The following example should clarify this concept:
930 negateVector xs = map not xs
933 The code above defines the \hs{negateVector} function, which takes a
934 vector of booleans, \hs{xs}, and returns a vector where all the values are
935 negated. It achieves this by calling the \hs{map} function, and passing it
936 \emph{another function}, boolean negation, and the vector of booleans,
937 \hs{xs}. The \hs{map} function applies the negation function to all the
938 elements in the vector.
940 The \hs{map} function is called a higher-order function, since it takes
941 another function as an argument. Also note that \hs{map} is again a
942 parametric polymorphic function: it does not pose any constraints on the
943 type of the input vector, other than that its elements must have the same type as
944 the first argument of the function passed to \hs{map}. The element type of the
945 resulting vector is equal to the return type of the function passed, which
946 need not necessarily be the same as the element type of the input vector.
947 All of these characteristics can readily be inferred from the type
948 signature belonging to \hs{map}:
951 map :: (a -> b) -> [a|n] -> [b|n]
954 So far, only functions have been used as higher-order values. In
955 Haskell, there are two more ways to obtain a function-typed value:
956 partial application and lambda abstraction. Partial application
957 means that a function that takes multiple arguments can be applied
958 to a single argument, and the result will again be a function (but
959 that takes one argument less). As an example, consider the following
960 expression, that adds one to every element of a vector:
966 Here, the expression \hs{(+ 1)} is the partial application of the
967 plus operator to the value \hs{1}, which is again a function that
968 adds one to its (next) argument. A lambda expression allows one to introduce an
969 anonymous function in any expression. Consider the following expression,
970 which again adds one to every element of a vector:
976 Finally, not only built-in functions can have higher order
977 arguments, but any function defined in \CLaSH can have function
978 arguments. This allows the hardware designer to use a powerful
979 abstraction mechanism in his designs and have an optimal amount of
980 code reuse. The only exception is again the top-level function: if a
981 function-typed argument is not applied with an actual function, no
982 hardware can be generated.
984 % \comment{TODO: Describe ALU example (no code)}
987 A very important concept in hardware is the concept of state. In a
988 stateful design, the outputs depend on the history of the inputs, or the
989 state. State is usually stored in registers, which retain their value
990 during a clock cycle. As we want to describe more than simple
991 combinational designs, \CLaSH\ needs an abstraction mechanism for state.
993 An important property in Haskell, and in most other functional languages,
994 is \emph{purity}. A function is said to be \emph{pure} if it satisfies two
997 \item given the same arguments twice, it should return the same value in
999 \item when the function is called, it should not have observable
1002 % This purity property is important for functional languages, since it
1003 % enables all kinds of mathematical reasoning that could not be guaranteed
1004 % correct for impure functions.
1005 Pure functions are as such a perfect match for combinaionial circuits,
1006 where the output solely depends on the inputs. When a circuit has state
1007 however, it can no longer be simply described by a pure function.
1008 % Simply removing the purity property is not a valid option, as the
1009 % language would then lose many of it mathematical properties.
1010 In \CLaSH\ we deal with the concept of state in pure functions by making
1011 current value of the state an additional argument of the function and the
1012 updated state part of result. In this sense the descriptions made in
1013 \CLaSH\ are the combinaionial parts of a mealy machine.
1015 A simple example is adding an accumulator register to the earlier
1016 multiply-accumulate circuit, of which the resulting netlist can be seen in
1017 \Cref{img:mac-state}:
1020 macS (State c) a b = (State c', c')
1026 \centerline{\includegraphics{mac-state.svg}}
1027 \caption{Stateful Multiply-Accumulate}
1028 \label{img:mac-state}
1031 The \hs{State} keyword indicates which arguments are part of the current
1032 state, and what part of the output is part of the updated state. This
1033 aspect will also be reflected in the type signature of the function.
1034 Abstracting the state of a circuit in this way makes it very explicit:
1035 which variables are part of the state is completely determined by the
1036 type signature. This approach to state is well suited to be used in
1037 combination with the existing code and language features, such as all the
1038 choice elements, as state values are just normal values. We can simulate
1039 stateful descriptions using the recursive \hs{run} function:
1042 run f s (i : inps) = o : (run f s' inps)
1047 The \hs{(:)} operator is the list concatenation operator, where the
1048 left-hand side is the head of a list and the right-hand side is the
1049 remainder of the list. The \hs{run} function applies the function the
1050 developer wants to simulate, \hs{f}, to the current state, \hs{s}, and the
1051 first input value, \hs{i}. The result is the first output value, \hs{o},
1052 and the updated state \hs{s'}. The next iteration of the \hs{run} function
1053 is then called with the updated state, \hs{s'}, and the rest of the
1054 inputs, \hs{inps}. It is assumed that there is one input per clock cycle.
1055 Also note how the order of the input, output, and state in the \hs{run}
1056 function corresponds with the order of the input, output and state of the
1057 \hs{macS} function described earlier.
1059 As both the \hs{run} function, the hardware description, and the test
1060 inputs are plain Haskell, the complete simulation can be compiled to an
1061 executable binary by an optimizing Haskell compiler, or executed in an
1062 Haskell interpreter. Both simulation paths are much faster than first
1063 translating the description to \VHDL\ and then running a \VHDL\
1064 simulation, where the executable binary has an additional simulation speed
1065 bonus in case there is a large set of test inputs.
1067 \section{\CLaSH\ compiler}
1068 An important aspect in this research is the creation of the prototype compiler, which allows us to translate descriptions made in the \CLaSH\ language as described in the previous section to synthesizable \VHDL, allowing a designer to actually run a \CLaSH\ design on an \acro{FPGA}.
1070 The Glasgow Haskell Compiler (\GHC) is an open-source Haskell compiler that
1071 also provides a high level API to most of its internals. The availability of
1072 this high-level API obviated the need to design many of the tedious parts of
1073 the prototype compiler, such as the parser, semantic checker, and especially
1074 the type-checker. The parser, semantic checker, and type-checker together form
1075 the front-end of the prototype compiler pipeline, as depicted in
1076 \Cref{img:compilerpipeline}.
1079 \centerline{\includegraphics{compilerpipeline.svg}}
1080 \caption{\CLaSHtiny\ compiler pipeline}
1081 \label{img:compilerpipeline}
1084 The output of the \GHC\ front-end is the original Haskell description
1085 translated to \emph{Core}~\cite{Sulzmann2007}, which is smaller, typed,
1086 functional language that is relatively easier to process than the larger Haskell
1087 language. A description in \emph{Core} can still contain properties which have
1088 no direct translation to hardware, such as polymorphic types and
1089 function-valued arguments. Such a description needs to be transformed to a
1090 \emph{normal form}, which only contains properties that have a direct
1091 translation. The second stage of the compiler, the \emph{normalization} phase
1092 exhaustively applies a set of \emph{meaning-preserving} transformations on the
1093 \emph{Core} description until this description is in a \emph{normal form}.
1094 This set of transformations includes transformations typically found in
1095 reduction systems for lambda calculus~\cite{lambdacalculus}, such a
1096 $\beta$-reduction and $\eta$-expansion, but also includes self-defined
1097 transformations that are responsible for the reduction of higher-order
1098 functions to `regular' first-order functions.
1100 The final step in the compiler pipeline is the translation to a \VHDL\
1101 \emph{netlist}, which is a straightforward process due to resemblance of a
1102 normalized description and a set of concurrent signal assignments. We call the
1103 end-product of the \CLaSH\ compiler a \VHDL\ \emph{netlist} as the resulting
1104 \VHDL\ resembles an actual netlist description and not idiomatic \VHDL.
1108 \subsection{FIR Filter}
1109 \label{sec:usecases}
1110 As an example of a common hardware design where the use of higher-order
1111 functions leads to a very natural description is a FIR filter, which is
1112 basically the dot-product of two vectors:
1115 y_t = \sum\nolimits_{i = 0}^{n - 1} {x_{t - i} \cdot h_i }
1118 A FIR filter multiplies fixed constants ($h$) with the current
1119 and a few previous input samples ($x$). Each of these multiplications
1120 are summed, to produce the result at time $t$. The equation of a FIR
1121 filter is indeed equivalent to the equation of the dot-product, which is
1125 \mathbf{a}\bullet\mathbf{b} = \sum\nolimits_{i = 0}^{n - 1} {a_i \cdot b_i }
1128 We can easily and directly implement the equation for the dot-product
1129 using higher-order functions:
1132 as *+* bs = foldl1 (+) (zipWith (*) as bs)
1135 The \hs{zipWith} function is very similar to the \hs{map} function seen
1136 earlier: It takes a function, two vectors, and then applies the function to
1137 each of the elements in the two vectors pairwise (\emph{e.g.}, \hs{zipWith (*)
1138 [1, 2] [3, 4]} becomes \hs{[1 * 3, 2 * 4]}).
1140 The \hs{foldl1} function takes a binary function, a single vector, and applies
1141 the function to the first two elements of the vector. It then applies the
1142 function to the result of the first application and the next element in the
1143 vector. This continues until the end of the vector is reached. The result of
1144 the \hs{foldl1} function is the result of the last application. It is obvious
1145 that the \hs{zipWith (*)} function is pairwise multiplication and that the
1146 \hs{foldl1 (+)} function is summation.
1148 Returning to the actual FIR filter, we will slightly change the equation
1149 describing it, so as to make the translation to code more obvious and concise.
1150 What we do is change the definition of the vector of input samples and delay
1151 the computation by one sample. Instead of having the input sample received at
1152 time $t$ stored in $x_t$, $x_0$ now always stores the newest sample, and $x_i$
1153 stores the $ith$ previous sample. This changes the equation to the following
1154 (note that this is completely equivalent to the original equation, just with a
1155 different definition of $x$ that will better suit the transformation to code):
1158 y_t = \sum\nolimits_{i = 0}^{n - 1} {x_i \cdot h_i }
1161 The complete definition of the FIR filter in code then becomes:
1164 fir (State (xs,hs)) x = (State (x >> xs,hs), xs *+* hs)
1167 Where the vector \hs{hs} contains the FIR coefficients and the vector \hs{xs}
1168 contains the latest input sample in front and older samples behind. The code
1169 for the shift (\hs{>>}) operator that adds the new input sample (\hs{x}) to
1170 the list of previous input samples (\hs{xs}) and removes the oldest sample is
1174 x >> xs = x +> init xs
1177 The \hs{init} function returns all but the last element of a vector, and the
1178 concatenate operator ($\succ$) adds a new element to the front of a vector. The
1179 resulting netlist of a 4-taps FIR filter, created by specializing the vectors of the above definition to a length of 4, is depicted in \Cref{img:4tapfir}.
1182 \centerline{\includegraphics{4tapfir.svg}}
1183 \caption{4-taps \acrotiny{FIR} Filter}
1187 \subsection{Higher order CPU}
1190 type FuState = State Word
1193 -> (RangedWord n, RangedWord n)
1196 fu op inputs (addr1, addr2) (State out) =
1205 type CpuState = State [FuState]:4
1207 -> [(RangedWord 7, RangedWord 7)]:4
1210 cpu input addrs (State fuss) =
1213 fures = [ fu const inputs!0 fuss!0
1214 , fu (+) inputs!1 fuss!1
1215 , fu (-) inputs!2 fuss!2
1216 , fu (*) inputs!3 fuss!3
1218 (fuss', outputs) = unzip fures
1219 inputs = 0 +> 1 +> input +> outputs
1223 \section{Related work}
1224 Many functional hardware description languages have been developed over the
1225 years. Early work includes such languages as $\mu$\acro{FP}~\cite{muFP}, an
1226 extension of Backus' \acro{FP} language to synchronous streams, designed
1227 particularly for describing and reasoning about regular circuits. The
1228 Ruby~\cite{Ruby} language uses relations, instead of functions, to describe
1229 circuits, and has a particular focus on layout.
1231 \acro{HML}~\cite{HML2} is a hardware modeling language based on the strict
1232 functional language \acro{ML}, and has support for polymorphic types and
1233 higher-order functions. Published work suggests that there is no direct
1234 simulation support for \acro{HML}, but that a description in \acro{HML} has to
1235 be translated to \VHDL\ and that the translated description can than be
1236 simulated in a \VHDL\ simulator. Also not all of the mentioned language
1237 features of \acro{HML} could be translated to hardware. The \CLaSH\ compiler
1238 on the other hand can correctly translate all of the language constructs
1239 mentioned in this paper to a netlist format.
1241 Like this work, many functional hardware description languages have some sort
1242 of foundation in the functional programming language Haskell.
1243 Hawk~\cite{Hawk1} uses Haskell to describe system-level executable
1244 specifications used to model the behavior of superscalar microprocessors. Hawk
1245 specifications can be simulated, but there seems to be no support for
1246 automated circuit synthesis.
1248 The ForSyDe~\cite{ForSyDe2} system uses Haskell to specify abstract system
1249 models, which can (manually) be transformed into an implementation model using
1250 semantic preserving transformations. A designer can model systems using
1251 heterogeneous models of computation, which include continuous time,
1252 synchronous and untimed models of computation. Using so-called domain
1253 interfaces a designer can simulate electronic systems which have both analog
1254 as digital parts. ForSyDe has several backends including simulation and
1255 automated synthesis, though automated synthesis is restricted to the
1256 synchronous model of computation within ForSyDe. Unlike \CLaSH\ there is no
1257 support for the automated synthesis of descriptions that contain polymorphism
1258 or higher-order functions.
1260 Lava~\cite{Lava} is a hardware description language that focuses on the
1261 structural representation of hardware. Besides support for simulation and
1262 circuit synthesis, Lava descriptions can be interfaced with formal method
1263 tools for formal verification. Lava descriptions are actually circuit
1264 generators when viewed from a synthesis viewpoint, in that the language
1265 elements of Haskell, such as choice, can be used to guide the circuit
1266 generation. If a developer wants to insert a choice element inside an actual
1267 circuit he will have to explicitly instantiate a multiplexer-like component.
1269 In this respect \CLaSH\ differs from Lava, in that all the choice elements,
1270 such as case-statements and pattern matching, are synthesized to choice
1271 elements in the eventual circuit. As such, richer control structures can both
1272 be specified and synthesized in \CLaSH\ compared to any of the languages
1273 mentioned in this section.
1275 The merits of polymorphic typing, combined with higher-order functions, are
1276 now also recognized in the `main-stream' hardware description languages,
1277 exemplified by the new \VHDL-2008 standard~\cite{VHDL2008}. \VHDL-2008 support for generics has been extended to types, allowing a developer to describe
1278 polymorphic components. Note that those types still require an explicit
1279 generic map, whereas types can be automatically inferred in \CLaSH.
1281 % Wired~\cite{Wired},, T-Ruby~\cite{T-Ruby}, Hydra~\cite{Hydra}.
1283 % A functional language designed specifically for hardware design is
1284 % $re{\mathit{FL}}^{ect}$~\cite{reFLect}, which draws experience from earlier
1285 % language called \acro{FL}~\cite{FL} to la
1287 % An example of a floating figure using the graphicx package.
1288 % Note that \label must occur AFTER (or within) \caption.
1289 % For figures, \caption should occur after the \includegraphics.
1290 % Note that IEEEtran v1.7 and later has special internal code that
1291 % is designed to preserve the operation of \label within \caption
1292 % even when the captionsoff option is in effect. However, because
1293 % of issues like this, it may be the safest practice to put all your
1294 % \label just after \caption rather than within \caption{}.
1296 % Reminder: the "draftcls" or "draftclsnofoot", not "draft", class
1297 % option should be used if it is desired that the figures are to be
1298 % displayed while in draft mode.
1302 %\includegraphics[width=2.5in]{myfigure}
1303 % where an .eps filename suffix will be assumed under latex,
1304 % and a .pdf suffix will be assumed for pdflatex; or what has been declared
1305 % via \DeclareGraphicsExtensions.
1306 %\caption{Simulation Results}
1310 % Note that IEEE typically puts floats only at the top, even when this
1311 % results in a large percentage of a column being occupied by floats.
1314 % An example of a double column floating figure using two subfigures.
1315 % (The subfig.sty package must be loaded for this to work.)
1316 % The subfigure \label commands are set within each subfloat command, the
1317 % \label for the overall figure must come after \caption.
1318 % \hfil must be used as a separator to get equal spacing.
1319 % The subfigure.sty package works much the same way, except \subfigure is
1320 % used instead of \subfloat.
1322 %\begin{figure*}[!t]
1323 %\centerline{\subfloat[Case I]\includegraphics[width=2.5in]{subfigcase1}%
1324 %\label{fig_first_case}}
1326 %\subfloat[Case II]{\includegraphics[width=2.5in]{subfigcase2}%
1327 %\label{fig_second_case}}}
1328 %\caption{Simulation results}
1332 % Note that often IEEE papers with subfigures do not employ subfigure
1333 % captions (using the optional argument to \subfloat), but instead will
1334 % reference/describe all of them (a), (b), etc., within the main caption.
1337 % An example of a floating table. Note that, for IEEE style tables, the
1338 % \caption command should come BEFORE the table. Table text will default to
1339 % \footnotesize as IEEE normally uses this smaller font for tables.
1340 % The \label must come after \caption as always.
1343 %% increase table row spacing, adjust to taste
1344 %\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.3}
1345 % if using array.sty, it might be a good idea to tweak the value of
1346 % \extrarowheight as needed to properly center the text within the cells
1347 %\caption{An Example of a Table}
1348 %\label{table_example}
1350 %% Some packages, such as MDW tools, offer better commands for making tables
1351 %% than the plain LaTeX2e tabular which is used here.
1352 %\begin{tabular}{|c||c|}
1362 % Note that IEEE does not put floats in the very first column - or typically
1363 % anywhere on the first page for that matter. Also, in-text middle ("here")
1364 % positioning is not used. Most IEEE journals/conferences use top floats
1365 % exclusively. Note that, LaTeX2e, unlike IEEE journals/conferences, places
1366 % footnotes above bottom floats. This can be corrected via the \fnbelowfloat
1367 % command of the stfloats package.
1371 \section{Conclusion}
1372 The conclusion goes here.
1377 % conference papers do not normally have an appendix
1380 % use section* for acknowledgement
1381 \section*{Acknowledgment}
1384 The authors would like to thank...
1390 % trigger a \newpage just before the given reference
1391 % number - used to balance the columns on the last page
1392 % adjust value as needed - may need to be readjusted if
1393 % the document is modified later
1394 %\IEEEtriggeratref{8}
1395 % The "triggered" command can be changed if desired:
1396 %\IEEEtriggercmd{\enlargethispage{-5in}}
1398 % references section
1400 % can use a bibliography generated by BibTeX as a .bbl file
1401 % BibTeX documentation can be easily obtained at:
1402 % http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/biblio/bibtex/contrib/doc/
1403 % The IEEEtran BibTeX style support page is at:
1404 % http://www.michaelshell.org/tex/ieeetran/bibtex/
1405 \bibliographystyle{IEEEtran}
1406 % argument is your BibTeX string definitions and bibliography database(s)
1407 \bibliography{clash}
1409 % <OR> manually copy in the resultant .bbl file
1410 % set second argument of \begin to the number of references
1411 % (used to reserve space for the reference number labels box)
1412 % \begin{thebibliography}{1}
1414 % \bibitem{IEEEhowto:kopka}
1415 % H.~Kopka and P.~W. Daly, \emph{A Guide to \LaTeX}, 3rd~ed.\hskip 1em plus
1416 % 0.5em minus 0.4em\relax Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley, 1999.
1418 % \end{thebibliography}
1426 % vim: set ai sw=2 sts=2 expandtab: