Design of a Multibus Data-Flow Processor Architecture

Abstract

General purpose microcontrollers have been used as computational elements in various spheres of technology. Because of the distinct requirements of specific application areas, however, general purpose microcontrollers are not always the best solution. There is a need for specialized processor architectures for specific application areas. This thesis discusses the design of such a specialized processor architecture targeted towards event driven sensor applications. This thesis presents an augmented multibus dataflow processor architecture and an automation framework suitable for executing a range of event driven applications in an energy efficient manner. The energy efficiency of the multibus processor architecture is demonstrated by comparing the energy usage of the architecture with that of a PIC12F675 microcontroller.