pragma HLS pipeline

Description

The PIPELINE pragma reduces the initiation interval for a function or loop by allowing the concurrent execution of operations.

A pipelined function or loop can process new inputs every N clock cycles, where N is the initiation interval (II) of the loop or function. The default initiation interval for the PIPELINE pragma is 1, which processes a new input every clock cycle. You can also specify the initiation interval through the use of the II option for the pragma.

Pipelining a loop allows the operations of the loop to be implemented in a concurrent manner as shown in the following figure. In this figure, (A) shows the default sequential operation where there are 3 clock cycles between each input read (II=3), and it requires 8 clock cycles before the last output write is performed.

Figure: Loop Pipeline



IMPORTANT!: Loop pipelining can be prevented by loop carry dependencies. You can use the DEPENDENCE pragma to provide additional information that can overcome loop-carry dependencies and allow loops to be pipelined (or pipelined with lower intervals).

If Vivado HLS cannot create a design with the specified II, it:

  • Issues a warning.
  • Creates a design with the lowest possible II.

You can then analyze this design with the warning message to determine what steps must be taken to create a design that satisfies the required initiation interval.

Syntax

Place the pragma in the C source within the body of the function or loop. 

#pragma HLS pipeline II=<int> enable_flush rewind

Where:

  • II=<int>: Specifies the desired initiation interval for the pipeline. Vivado HLS tries to meet this request. Based on data dependencies, the actual result might have a larger initiation interval. The default II is 1.
  • enable_flush: An optional keyword which implements a pipeline that will flush and empty if the data valid at the input of the pipeline goes inactive.
    TIP: This feature is only supported for pipelined functions: it is not supported for pipelined loops.
  • rewind: An optional keyword that enables rewinding, or continuous loop pipelining with no pause between one loop iteration ending and the next iteration starting. Rewinding is effective only if there is one single loop (or a perfect loop nest) inside the top-level function. The code segment before the loop:
    • Is considered as initialization.
    • Is executed only once in the pipeline.
    • Cannot contain any conditional operations (if-else).
    TIP: This feature is only supported for pipelined loops: it is not supported for pipelined functions.

Example 1

In this example function foo is pipelined with an initiation interval of 1: 
void foo { a, b, c, d} {
  #pragma HLS pipeline II=1
  ...
}
Note: The default value for II is 1, so II=1 is not required in this example.

See Also