With the current demand for mixed-signal SoCs, an increasing number of designers are looking for ADC architectures that can be easily implemented over digital substrates. Since ADC performance is strongly dependent upon physical and electrical features, it gets more difficult for them to benefit from more recent technologies, where these features are more variable. This way, analog signal acquisition is not allowed to follow an evolutionary trend compatible with Moore’s Law. In fact, such trend shall get worst, since newer technologies are expected to have more variable characteristics. Also, for a matter of economy of scale, many times a mixed-signal SoC presents a good amount of idle processing power. In such systems it is advantageous to employ more costly digital signal processing provided that it allows a reduction in the analog area demanded or the use of less expensive analog blocks, able to cope with process variations and uncertainty. Besides the technological concerns, other factors that impact the cost of the design also advise to transfer problems from the analog to the digital domain whenever possible: design automation and self-test requirements, for instance. Recent surveys indicate that the total cost in designer hours for the analog blocks of a mixed-signal system can be up to three times the cost of the digital ones. This manuscript explores the concept of bottom-up analog acquisition design, using statistical sampling as a way to reduce the analog area demanded in the design of ADCs within mixed-signal systems. More particularly, it investigates the possibility of using digital modeling and digital compensation of non-idealities to ease the design of ADCs. The work is developed around three axes: the definition of target applications, the development of digital compensation algorithms and the exploration of architectural possibilities. New methods and architectures are defined and validated. The main notions behind the proposal are analyzed and it is shown that the approach is feasible, opening new paths of future research. Keywords:

Heutzutage sind wir von Geräten umgeben, die sowohl Hardware wie auch Software- Komponenten beinhalten. Diese Geräte unterstützen ein breites Spektrum an verschiedenen Domänen, so zum Beispiel Telekommunikation, Luftfahrt, Automobil und andere. Derartige Systeme sind überall aufzufinden und werden als Eingebettete Systeme bezeichnet, da sie zur Informationsverarbeitung in andere Produkte eingebettet werden, wobei die Informationsverarbeitung des eingebetteten Systems jedoch nicht die bezeichnende Funktion des Produkts ist. Die ständig zunehmende Komplexität moderner eingebettete Systeme erfordert die Verwendung von mehreren Komponenten um die Funktionen von einem einzelnen System zu implementieren. Eine solche Steigerung der Funktionalität führt jedoch ebenfalls zu einem Wachstum in der Entwurfs-Komplexität, die korrekt und effizient beherrscht werden muss. Neben hohen Anforderungen bezüglich Leistungsaufnahme, Performanz und Kosten hat auch Time-to-Market-Anforderungen großen Einfluss auf den Entwurf von Eingebetteten Systemen. Design Space Exploration (DSE) beschreibt die systematische Erzeugung und Auswertung von Entwurfs-Alternativen, um die Systemleistung zu optimieren und den gestellten Anforderungen an das System zu genügen. Bei der Entwicklung von Eingebetteten Systemen, speziell beim Platform-Based Design (PBD) führt die zunehmende Anzahl von Design-Entscheidungen auf mehreren Abstraktionsebenen zu einer Explosion der möglichen Kombinationen von Alternativen, was auch für aktuelle DSE Methoden eine Herausforderung darstellt. Jedoch vermag üblicherweise nur eine begrenzte Anzahl von Entwurfs-Alternativen die zusätzlich formulierten nicht-funktionalen Anforderungen zu erfüllen. Darüber hinaus beeinflusst jede Entwurfs- Entscheidung weitere Entscheidungen und damit die resultierenden Systemeigenschaften. Somit existieren Abhängigkeiten zwischen Entwurfs-Entscheidungen und deren Reihenfolge auf dem Weg zur Implementierung des Systems. Zudem gilt es zwischen einer spezifischen Heuristik für eine bestimmte DSE, welche zu verbesserten Optimierungsresultaten führt, sowie globalen Verfahren, welche ihrerseits zur Flexibilität hinsichtlich der Anwendbarkeit bei verschiedenen DSE Szenarien beitragen, abzuwägen. Um die genannten Herausforderungen zu lösen wird eine Modellgetriebene Entwicklung (englisch Model-Driven Engineering, kurz MDE) Methodik für DSE vorgeschlagen. Für diese Methodik wird ein DSE-Domain-Metamodell eingeführt um relevante DSEKonzepte wie Entwurfsraum, Entwurfs-Alternativen, Auswertungs- und Bewertungsverfahren, Einschränkungen und andere abzubilden. Darüber hinaus modelliert das Metamodell verschiedenen DSE-Frage- stellungen, was zur Verbesserung der Flexibilität der vorgeschlagenen Methodik beiträgt. Zur Umsetzung von DSE-Regeln, welche zur Steuerung, Einschränkung und Generierung der Ent- wurfs-Alternativen genutzt werden, finden Modell-zu-Modell-Transformationen Anwendung. Durch die Fokussierung auf die Zuordnung zwischen den Schichten in einem PBDAnsatz wird eine neuartige Entwurfsraumabstraktion eingeführt, um multiple Entwurfsentscheidungen als singuläres DSE Problem zu repräsentieren. Diese auf dem Categorial Graph Product aufbauende Abstraktion entkoppelt den Explorations-Algorithmus vom Entwurfsraum und ist für Umsetzung in automatisierte Werkzeugketten gut geeignet. Basierend auf dieser Abstraktion profitiert die DSE-Methode durch die eingeführte MDEMethodik als solche und ermöglicht nunmehr neue Optimierungsmöglichkeiten sowie die Verbesserung der Integration von DSE in Entwicklungsprozesse und die Spezifikation von DSE-Szenarien. / Atualmente dispositivos contendo hardware e software são encontrados em todos os lugares. Estes dispositivos prestam suporte a uma varieadade de domínios, como telecomunicações, automotivo e outros. Eles são chamados “sistemas embarcados”, pois são sistemas de processamento montados dentro de produtos, cujo sistema de processamento não faz parte da funcionalidade principal do produto. O acréscimo de funções nestes sistemas implica no aumento da complexidade de seu projeto, o qual deve ser adequadamente gerenciado, pois além de requisitos rigorosos em relação à dissipação de potência, desempenho e custos, a pressão sobre o prazo para introdução de um produto no mercado também dificulta seu projeto. Exploração do espaço de projeto (DSE) é a atividade sistemática de gerar e avaliar alternativas de projetos, com o objetivo de otimizar suas propriedades. No desenvolvimento de sistemas embarcados, especialmente em Projeto Baseado em Plataformas (PBD), metodologias de DSE atuais são desafiadas pelo crescimento do número de decisões de projeto, o qual implica na explosão da combinação de alternativas. Porém, somente algumas destas resultam em projetos que atedem os requisitos nãofuncionais. Além disso, as decisões influenciam umas às outras, de forma que a ordem em que estas são tomadas alteram a implementação final do sistema. Outro desafio é o balanço entre flexibilidade da metodologia e seu desempenho, pois métodos globais de otimização são flexíveis, mas apresentam baixo desempenho. Já heurísticas especialmente desenvolvidas para o cenário de DSE em questão apresentam melhor desempenho, porém dificilmente são aplicáveis a diferentes cenários. Com o intuito de superar os desafios é proposta uma metodologia de projeto dirigido por modelos (MDE) adquada para DSE. Um metamodelo do domínio de DSE é definido para representar conceitos como espaço de projeto, métodos de avaliação e restrições. O metamodelo também representa diferentes problemas de DSE aprimorando a flexibilidade da metodologia. Regras de transformações de modelos implementam as regras de DSE, as quais são utilizadas para restringir e guiar a geração de projetos alternativos. Restringindo-se ao mapeamento entre camadas no PBD é proposta uma abstração para representar o espaço de projeto. Ela representa múltiplas decisões de projeto envolvidas no mapeamento como um único problema de DSE. Esta representação é adequada para a implementação em ferramentas automática de DSE e pode beneficiar o processo de DSE com uma abordagem de MDE, aprimorando a especificação de cenários de DSE e sua integração no processo de desenvolvimento. / Nowadays we are surrounded by devices containing hardware and software components. These devices support a wide spectrum of different domains, such as telecommunication, avionics, automobile, and others. They are found anywhere, and so they are called Embedded Systems, as they are information processing systems embedded into enclosing products, where the processing system is not the main functionality of the product. The ever growing complexity in modern embedded systems requires the utilization of more components to implement the functions of a single system. Such an increasing functionality leads to a growth in the design complexity, which must be managed properly, because besides stringent requirements regarding power, performance and cost, also time-to-market hinders the design of embedded systems. Design Space Exploration (DSE) is the systematic generation and evaluation of design alternatives, in order to optimize system properties and fulfill requirements. In embedded system development, specifically in Platform-Based Design (PBD), current DSE methodologies are challenged by the increasing number of design decisions at multiple abstraction levels, which leads to an explosion of combination of alternatives. However, only a reduced number of these alternatives leads to feasible designs, which fulfill non-functional requirements. Moreover, each design decision influences subsequent decisions and system properties, hence there are inter-dependencies between design decisions, so that the order decisions are made matters to the final system implementation. Furthermore, there is a trade-off between heuristics for specific DSE, which improves the optimization results, and global optimizers, which improve the flexibility to be applied in different DSE scenarios. In order to overcome the identified challenges an MDE methodology for DSE is proposed. For this methodology a DSE Domain metamodel is proposed to represent relevant DSE concepts such as design space, design alternatives, evaluation method, constraints and others. Moreover, this metamodel represents different DSE problems, improving the flexibility of the proposed framework. Model transformations are used to implement DSE rules, which are used to constrain, guide, and generate design candidates. Focusing on the mapping between layers in a PBD approach, a novel design space abstraction is provided to represent multiple design decisions involved in the mapping as a single DSE problem. This abstraction is based on Categorical Graph Product, decoupling the exploration algorithm from the design space and being well suited to be implemented in automatic exploration tools. Upon this abstraction, the DSE method can benefit from the MDE methodology, opening new optimization opportunities, and improving the DSE integration into the development process and specification of DSE scenarios.

Com os grandes avanços recentes dos sistemas computacionais, houve a possibilidade de ascensão de dispositivos inovadores, como os modernos telefones celulares e tablets com telas sensíveis ao toque. Para gerenciar adequadamente estas diversas interfaces é necessário utilizar o software dependente do hardware (HdS), que é responsável pelo controle e acesso a estes dispositivos. Além deste complexo arranjo de componentes, para atender a crescente demanda por mais funcionalidades integradas, o paradigma de multiprocessamento vem sendo adotado para aumentar o desempenho das plataformas. Devido à lacuna de produtividade de sistemas, tanto a indústria como a academia têm pesquisado processos mais eficientes para construir e simular sistemas cada vez mais complexos. A premissa dos trabalhos do estado da arte está em trabalhar com modelos com alto nível de abstração e de precisão que permitam ao projetista avaliar rapidamente o sistema, sem ter que depender de lentos e complexos modelos baseados em ISS. Neste trabalho é definido um conjunto de construtores para modelagem de plataformas baseadas em processadores, com suporte para desenvolvimento de HdS e reusabilidade dos componentes, técnicas para estimativa estática de tempo simulado em ambiente nativo de simulação e suporte para plataformas multiprocessadas. Foram realizados experimentos com aplica- ções de entrada e saída intensiva, computação intensiva e multiprocessada, com ganho médio de desempenho da ordem de 1.000 vezes e precisão de estimativas com erro médio inferior a 3%, em comparação com uma plataforma de referência baseada em ISS._________________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT: The amazing advances of computer systems technology enabled the rise of innovative devices, such as modern touch sensitive cell phones and tablets. To properly manage these various interfaces, it is required the use of the Hardwaredependent Software (HdS) that is responsible for these devices control and access. Besides this complex arrangement of components, to meet the growing demand for more integrated features, the multiprocessing paradigm has been adopted to increase the platforms performance. Due to the system design gap, both industry and academia have been researching for more efficient processes to build and simulate systems with this increasingly complexity. The premise of the state of art works is the development of high level of abstraction and precise models to enable the designer to quickly evaluate the system, without having to rely on slow and complex models based on instruction set simulators (ISS). This work defined a set of constructors for processor-based platforms modeling, supporting HdS development and components reusability, techniques for static simulation timing estimation in native environment and support for multiprocessor platforms. Experiments were carried out with input and output intensive, compute intensive and multiprocessed applications leading to an average performance speed up of about 1,000 times and average timing estimation accuracy of less than 3%, when compared with a reference platform based on ISS.

La thèse propose une contribution à une théorie générale de la conception visant à mettre en évidence des concepts communs à une grande variété de domaines.Après une analyse de l’état de la question, la thèse propose un cadre conceptuel ainsi qu'une analyse détaillée des concepts de projet, d’artefact, d’espace de conception, de processus de conception, d’organisation de conception et enfin, des activités cognitives du concepteur. Une étude de cas illustre les différents concepts. Les conclusions mettent en évidence l’apport et les limites de la contribution. / The thesis formulates a contribution to a general theory of design that aims at identifying concepts common to large number of design domains.After the analysis of the state of the art, the thesis formulates a conceptual framework as well as an in-depth analysis of following concepts: project, artefact, design space, design process, design organisation and the cognitive processes at the level of the designer. A case study provides an illustration of the different concepts. The conclusion highlights the added value and the limits of the contribution.

En réponse à des contraintes écologiques et économiques de plus en plus forte dans l’industrie, la problématique de réduction et de maîtrise de la consommation énergétique est aujourd’hui prise en considération dans le domaine de la machine-outil. Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet Green HSM porté par l’entreprise PCI-SCEMM ayant pour but de réduire la consommation énergétique d’une machine-outil de 30%. L’étude s’est focalisée sur le thème spécifique de l’allègement de structure. L’objectif est de concevoir des structures de machines-outils avec des masses mobiles les plus faibles possibles tout en gardant une rigidité fonctionnelle.Deux méthodes d’allègement de structures sont proposées dans le cadre de cette thèse. La première présente une méthode d’optimisation de structure de machines-outils par analyse de contraintes. Cette méthode a permis un allègement de deux pièces principales de la structure de 6,5% et 9% pour une réduction globale de la consommation énergétique de 3%.Une autre méthode pour concevoir une structure de machines-outils plus légère utilisant l’optimisation topologique est proposée. La méthode s’appuie sur deux paramètres spécifiques : l’espace de conception et DISCRETE. Cette méthode est présentée dans l’optimisation d’un cas simple de poutre encastrée soumise à un effort de flexion et donne de bons résultats. L’utilisation de la méthode sur le chariot X d’une machine-outil met en évidence les limitations de l’optimisation topologique dans le cas d’étude de structures complexes et l’influence du choix de la solution initiale. / In response to the increase of environmental and economic constraints in industry, the issue of reducing and controlling energy consumption is highlighted in machine tool context. This thesis is part of the Green HSM project carried out by the PCI-SCEMM company with the aim of reducing the energy consumption of a machine tool by 30%. The study focused on the specific topic of lightweight design. The objective is to design machine tool structures with the smallest mass while maintaining functional rigidity.Two methods of lightening structures are proposed in the framework of this thesis. The first one presents a method for optimizing the structure of machine tools by stress analysis. This method allows reducing the mass of two main parts of the structure of 6.5% and 9% for an overall reduction in energy consumption of 3%. Another method for designing a lighter machine structure using topological optimization is proposed. The method is based on two specific parameters: the space design and DISCRETE. This method is presented in the optimization of a simple case of embedded beam subjected to a bending effort and gives good results. The use of the method on the X-axis carriage of a machine tool highlights the limitations of topological optimization in the case of complex structure studies and the influence of the initial solution choice.

Ce manuscrit présente une méthode de conception au niveau système reposant sur la programmation fonctionnelle typée et visant à atténuer certains des problèmes complexifiant le développement des systèmes numériques modernes, tels que leurs tailles importantes ou la grande variété des blocs les constituant. Nous proposons un ensemble de mécanismes permettant de mélanger au sein d'un même design plusieurs formalismes de description distincts («modèles de calcul») se situant potentiellement à des niveaux d'abstraction différents. De plus, nous offrons au concepteur la possibilité d'expliciter directement les paramètres explorables de chaque sous-partie du design, puis d'en déterminer des valeurs acceptables via une étape d'exploration partiellement ou totalement automatisée réalisée à l'échelle du système. Les gains qu'apportent ces stratégies nouvelles sont illustrés sur plusieurs exemples. / This work presents a novel system-level design method based on typed functional programming and aiming at mitigating some of the issues making the development of modern digital systems complex, such as their increasing sizes and the variety of their subcomponents. We propose a range of mechanisms allowing to mix within a single design several description formalisms (``models of computation''), possibly at different abstraction levels. Moreover, the designer is provided with means to directly express the explorable parameters of each part of their design, and to find acceptable values for them through a partially or totally automatic system-wide architectural exploration step. The advantages brought by those new strategies are illustrated on several examples.

Devido ao grande número de otimizações fornecidas pelos compiladores modernos e à ampla possibilidade de ordenação dessas transformações, uma eficiente Exploração do Espaço de Projeto (DSE) se faz necessária para procurar a melhor sequência de otimização de uma determinada função ou fragmento de código. Como esta exploração é uma tarefa complexa e dispendiosa, apresentamos uma nova abordagem de DSE capaz de reduzir esse tempo de exploração e selecionar sequências de otimização que melhoraram o desempenho dos códigos transformados. Nossa abordagem utiliza um conjunto de funções de referência, para as quais uma representação simbólica do código (DNA) e a melhor sequência de otimização são conhecidas. O DSE de novas funções é baseado em uma abordagem de agrupamento aplicado sobre o código DNA que identifica similaridades entre funções. O agrupamento utiliza três técnicas para a mineração de dados: distância de compressão normalizada, algoritmo de reconstrução de árvores filogenéticas (Neighbor Joining) e identificação de grupos por ambiguidade. As otimizações das funções de referência identificadas como similares formam o espaço que é explorado para encontrar a melhor sequência para a nova função. O DSE pode utilizar o conjunto reduzido de otimizações de duas formas: como o espaço de projeto ou como a configuração inicial do algoritmo. Em ambos os casos, a adoção de uma pré-seleção baseada no agrupamento permite o uso de algoritmos de busca simples e rápidos. Os resultados experimentais revelam que a nova abordagem resulta numa redução significativa no tempo total de exploração, ao mesmo tempo que alcança um desempenho próximo ao obtido através de uma busca mais extensa e dispendiosa baseada em algoritmos genéticos. / Due to the large number of optimizations provided in modern compilers and to compiler optimization specific opportunities, a Design Space Exploration (DSE) is necessary to search for the best sequence of compiler optimizations for a given code fragment (e.g., function). As this exploration is a complex and time consuming task, we present new DSE strategies to reduce the exploration time and still select optimization sequences able to improve the performance of each function. The DSE is based on a clustering approach which groups functions with similarities and then explore the reduced search space provided by the optimizations previously suggested for the functions in each group. The identification of similarities between functions uses a data mining method which is applied to a symbolic representation of the source code. The DSE strategies uses the reduced optimizations set identified by clustering in two ways: as the design space or as the initial configuration of the algorithm. In both ways, the adoption of a pre-selection based on clustering allows the use of simple and fast DSE algorithms. Several experiments for evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed approach address the exploration of compiler optimization sequences. Besides, we investigate the impact of each technique or component employed in the selection process. Experimental results reveal that the use of our new clustering-based DSE approach achieved a significant reduction on the total exploration time of the search space at the same time that obtained performance speedups close to a traditional genetic algorithmbased approach.

The application of optimization algorithms in the design of many economical and industrial problems currently represents a significant assignment. The development of high-powered computers allows an application of difficult mathematical techniques and physical phenomena to simulate real problems with sufficient accuracy. The optimization techniques used in engineering designs are mostly represented by modified mathematical programming methods with extension of their usability. The aim of the presented thesis "Using Optimization´s Algorithms by Designing of Structures" is to analyze the applicability of optimization procedures which are available in the widely used computing system ANSYS in civil and mechanical engineering practice. The numerical analyses were performed within the frame of multi-extreme, one to three dimensional optimization problems, multi-dimensional problems expressed by minimizing the weight of a truss beam and efficient design of air gap location in wooden studs from the point of view of thermal features of the structure. The analyzed optimization processes are in plurality verified with accurate manual computing and graphical solutions and the accent is put on optimization methods´ possibilities to improve robustness, efficiency and accuracy of the optimization algorithms in civil engineering problems´ designs. The optimization methods represent a suitable approach to improve the efficient design of a wide range of civil and mechanical engineering structures and elements. By combination of their advantages and FEM/FEA method it is possible to achieve very good results, although robustness of the solutions is not guaranteed. The robustness and accuracy of the procedure could be increased by competent exploration of design space and suitable selections of optimization methods´ features.

Les applications vidéo embarquées sont de plus en plus intégrées dans des systèmes de transport intelligents tels que les véhicules autonomes. De nombreux défis sont rencontrés par les concepteurs de ces applications, parmi lesquels : le développement des algorithmes complexes, la vérification et le test des différentes contraintes fonctionnelles et non-fonctionnelles, la nécessité d’automatiser le processus de conception pour augmenter la productivité, la conception d’une architecture matérielle adéquate pour exploiter le parallélisme inhérent et pour satisfaire la contrainte temps-réel, réduire la puissance consommée pour prolonger la durée de fonctionnement avant de recharger le véhicule, etc. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons utilisé les technologies FPGAs pour relever certains de ces défis et proposer des architectures matérielles reconfigurables dédiées pour des applications embarquées de traitement vidéo temps-réel. Premièrement, nous avons implémenté une architecture parallèle flexible avec deux contributions principales : (1) Nous avons proposé un modèle générique de distribution/collecte de pixels pour résoudre le problème de transfert de données à haut débit à travers le système. Les paramètres du modèle requis sont tout d’abord définis puis la génération de l’architecture a été automatisée pour minimiser le temps de développement. (2) Nous avons appliqué une technique d’ajustement de la fréquence pour réduire la consommation d’énergie. Nous avons dérivé les équations nécessaires pour calculer le niveau maximum de parallélisme ainsi que les équations utilisées pour calculer la taille des FIFO pour le passage d’un domaine de l’horloge à un autre. Au fur et à mesure que le nombre de cellules logiques sur une seule puce FPGAaugmente, passer à des niveaux d’abstraction plus élevés devient inévitable pour réduire la contrainte de « time-to-market » et augmenter la productivité des concepteurs. Pendant la phase de conception, l’espace de solutions architecturales présente un grand nombre d’alternatives avec des performances différentes en termes de temps d’exécution, ressources matérielles, consommation d’énergie, etc. Face à ce défi, nous avons développé l’outil ViPar avec deux contributions principales : (1) Un modèle empirique a été introduit pour estimer la consommation d’énergie basé sur l’utilisation du matériel (Slice et BRAM) et la fréquence de fonctionnement ; en plus de cela, nous avons dérivé les équations pour estimer les ressources matérielles et le temps d’exécution pour chaque alternative au cours de l’exploration de l’espace de conception. (2) En définissant les principales caractéristiques de l’architecture parallèle comme le niveau de parallélisme, le nombre de ports d’entrée/sortie, le modèle de distribution des pixels, ..., l’outil ViPar génère automatiquement l’architecture matérielle pour les solutions les plus pertinentes. Dans le cadre d’une collaboration industrielle avec NAVYA, nous avons utilisé l’outil ViPar pour implémenter une solution matérielle parallèle pour l’algorithme de stéréo matching « Multi-window Sum of Absolute Difference ». Dans cette implémentation, nous avons présenté un ensemble d’étapes pour modifier le code de description de haut niveau afin de l’adapter efficacement à l’implémentation matérielle. Nous avons également exploré l’espace de conception pour différentes alternatives en termes de performance, ressources matérielles, fréquence, et consommation d’énergie. Au cours de notre travail, les architectures matérielles ont été implémentées et testées expérimentalement sur la plateforme d’évaluation Xilinx Zynq ZC706. / Embedded video applications are now involved in sophisticated transportation systems like autonomous vehicles. Many challenges faced the designers to build those applications, among them: complex algorithms should be developed, verified and tested under restricted time-to-market constraints, the necessity for design automation tools to increase the design productivity, high computing rates are required to exploit the inherent parallelism to satisfy the real-time constraints, reducing the consumed power to extend the operating duration before recharging the vehicle, etc. In this thesis work, we used FPGA technologies to tackle some of these challenges to design parallel reconfigurable hardware architectures for embedded video streaming applications. First, we implemented a flexible parallel architecture with two main contributions: (1)We proposed a generic model for pixel distribution/collection to tackle the problem of the huge data transferring through the system. The required model parameters were defined then the architecture generation was automated to minimize the development time. (2) We applied frequency scaling as a technique for reducing power consumption. We derived the required equations for calculating the maximum level of parallelism as well as the ones used for calculating the depth of the inserted FIFOs for clock domain crossing. As the number of logic cells on a single FPGA chip increases, moving to higher abstraction design levels becomes inevitable to shorten the time-to-market constraint and to increase the design productivity. During the design phase, it is common to have a space of design alternatives that are different from each other regarding hardware utilization, power consumption and performance. We developed ViPar tool with two main contributions to tackle this problem: (1) An empirical model was introduced to estimate the power consumption based on the hardware utilization (Slice and BRAM) and the operating frequency. In addition to that, we derived the equations for estimating the hardware resources and the execution time for each point during the design space exploration. (2) By defining the main characteristics of the parallel architecture like parallelism level, the number of input/output ports, the pixel distribution pattern, etc. ViPar tool can automatically generate the parallel architecture for the selected designs for implementation. In the context of an industrial collaboration, we used high-level synthesis tools to implement a parallel hardware architecture for Multi-window Sum of Absolute Difference stereo matching algorithm. In this implementation, we presented a set of guiding steps to modify the high-level description code to fit efficiently for hardware implementation as well as we explored the design space for different alternatives in terms of hardware resources, performance, frequency and power consumption. During the thesis work, our designs were implemented and tested experimentally on Xilinx Zynq ZC706 (XC7Z045- FFG900) evaluation board.

Beside designing the graphical interface of mobile applications, mobile phones and their built-in sensors enable various possibilities to engage with digital content in a physical, device-based manner that move beyond the screen content. So-called mobile device-based interactions are characterized by device movements and positions as well as user actions in real space. So far, there is only little guidance available for novice designers and developers to ideate and design new solutions for specic individual or collaborative use cases. Hence, the potential for designing mobile-based interactions is seldom fully exploited. To address this issue, we propose a design kit for mobile device-based interaction techniques following a morphological approach. Overall, the kit comprises seven dimensions with several elements that can be easily combined with each other to form an interaction technique by selecting at least one entry of each dimension. The design kit can be used to support designers in exploring novel mobile interaction techniques to specic interaction problems in the ideation phase of the design process but also in the analysis of existing device-based interaction solutions.