Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Hardware Mario D. Marino, G. Robins, K. Skadron and L. Wang {mdm9uw,robins,skadron,lw2aw}.cs.virginia.edu Department of Computer Science - UVa

2© 2010 Mario D. Marino2 Algorithm Language HW/Binary Theory Programmer's life Compiler

Outline 1.Motivation 2.Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Hardware 3.Example of Integration: translator JFLAP 2 VHDL and ghdl Simulation Validation 4.Prospective Contributions & Future Work

4© 2010 Mario D. Marino4 Algorithm Language HW/Binary Theory Programmer's life Compiler

Outline 1.Motivation 2.Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Hardware 3.Example of Integration: translator JFLAP 2 VHDL and ghdl Simulation Validation 4.Prospective Contributions

Integrating Theory and HW 1.Special-purpose hardware to reflect Theory 2.Reduce unnecessary code 3.Reduce language restrictions

Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Hardware 7© 2010 Mario D. Marino7 idea!? Behavioral description Theory TM, automata VHDL FPGA-specialized purpose processor translation Algorithm HW

Outline 1.Motivation 2.Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Hardware 3.Example of Feasibility: translator JFLAP 2 VHDL and ghdl simulation validation 4.Prospective Contributions & Future Work

Translator: JFLAP2VHDL Translator: – Source: theoretical models – Output: VHDL theoretical models: JFLAP (Duke)‏ – Graphical tool – Theoretical models description: Turing Machines, grammars – Output format xml VHDL: validation – ghdl Simulation

Example: translation input: Turing Machine

ghdl simulation validation – Turing Machine Generated TM VHDL code => ghdl VHDL simulator Correct results

Outline 1.Motivation 2.Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Hardware 3.Example of Integration: translator JFLAP 2 VHDL and ghdl simulation validation 4.Prospective Contributions & Future Work

Example: translation output – parallel Turing Machine

Prospective Contributions & Future Work 14© 2010 Mario D. Marino14 Better coupling Theory/HW/Alg/Lang./Comp Applications: “small” compiler, small programs Formal verification / debugging Compare to the traditional approach Compare to System C Education and Pedagogy: Theory x Engineering ‏

15© 2010 Mario D. Marino15 Questions? Thanks!

Example: translation output – ghdl - simulation validation