The design of multiprocessor architectures basically differs from the
uniprocessor systems in that the number of processors and their
interconnection must be considered. This leads to an enormous increase in
the design space exploration time which is exponential in the total number
of system components. The methodology proposed here, called Intelligent
Concurrent Object-Oriented Synthesis (ICOS) methodology, makes feasible
the synthesis of complex multiprocessor systems through the application of
several techniques that speed up the design process. ICOS is based on
Performance Synthesis Methodology (PSM), a recently proposed object-
oriented system level design methodology. Four major techniques: object-
oriented design, fuzzy design-space exploration, concurrent design, and
intelligent reuse of complete subsystems are integrated in ICOS. First,
object-oriented modeling and design, through the use of object-oriented
relationships and operators, make the whole design process manageable and
maintainable in ICOS. Second, fuzzy comparison applied to the specializations
or instances of components reduces the exponential growth of design-space
exploration in ICOS. Third, independent components from different design
alternatives are synthesized in parallel, this design concurrency shortens
the overall design time. Lastly, the resynthesis of complete subsystems can
be avoided through the application of learning, thus making the methodology
intelligent enough to reuse previous design configurations. Experiments show
that all these applied techniques contribute to the synthesis efficiency and
the degree of automation in ICOS.