[vhdl-200x] Regarding Matrix Math Users' Guide proposal

Hi group,

* Please ignore this if you have already received it*

This review comment is relevant to Matrix Math Users' Guide IEEE Package
proposal. I had an offline discussion with David, who proposed this, regarding
this and I felt it might be appropriate to see what others think.

I looked at the package code and the user guide. Everything seems to be
useful. My only concern with the package is that it also includes functions
for computation operations on matrices. I think that the existing
implementation of compute functions (like multiply etc.) will be more
relevant for testbench than for synthesis.

When compute operations are included in the package, from a synthesis
perspective, a designer loses control. Calculations like matrix multiply
done using loops (in the package) do not allow a designer using the package
to maximize parallelism. Also, a designer won't be able to assign a
synthesis directive if he/she wanted. Of course it might be possible to
edit the package locally but then that is basically against the principle
of using a package in the first place.

I would say that functions which manipulate data arrangement in matrices or
move data in and out are better suited for a package compared to compute
functions (*, /, ./, +, - etc.). Also, leaving the implementation of these
operators to the mercy of synthesis tools might generally be a good idea
but is not so always.


Regards,
Sharad

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www.sharadsinha.wordpress.com

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