Program variable convergence analysis

1. A non-transitory computer accessible memory medium that stores program instructions executable by a processor to implement:

determining, based on dependencies of one or more variables in a first program, one or more state variables of the first program;

creating, based on the one or more state variables and dependencies of the one or more state variables, a second program corresponding to the first program;

executing the second program a plurality of times, comprising:

for each execution:

recording values of the one or more state variables;

determining an execution count;

comparing the values to corresponding values from previous executions of the second program; and

terminating said executing in response to determining that the values match corresponding values from at least one previous execution of the second program;

determining, based on the execution count, a convergence property for the first program that indicates a number of executions of the first program required to generate all possible values of the one or more variables; and

storing the convergence property, wherein the convergence property is useable to optimize the first program;

wherein said determining one or more state variables, said creating, and said executing are performed as part of compiling the first program.

2. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more variables have data types comprising one or more of:

scalar;

array; or

heterogeneous data structure.

3. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the first program comprises one or more of:

a data flow program;

a graphical program;

a graphical data flow program; or

a hardware description program.

4. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the first program comprises one or more of:

a procedural program;

a functional program;

a textual program; or

a declarative program.

5. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein said

executing the second program comprises one or more of:

running compiled code on a computer, wherein the compiled code is generated from at least a portion of the second program;

interpreting program statements of at least a portion of the second program; or

evaluating operations in a graph generated from at least a portion of the second program.

6. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the convergence property comprises one or more of:

a finite integer value;

a real value, indicating a fractional execution of the program;

an indication that there is no convergence; or

a convergence property for each variable of at least a subset of variables in the first program.

7. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the dependencies comprise one or more of:

a data dependency through variable assignment;

a control dependency through control structures; or

a transitive closure of a data or control dependency.

8. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more state variables comprise one or more of:

at least one static variable;

at least one global variable;

at least one feedback node in a dataflow language;

at least one modal parameter; or

at least one parameter that takes on one of a plurality of values throughout execution of the first program.

9. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the second program is one or more of:

smaller than the first program;

a program that executes faster than the first program;

an empty program with no state variables; or

the same as the first program.

10. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

compiling the first program based on the convergence property, said compiling comprising generating code configured to run on one or more of:

a desktop computer with one or more central processing unit (CPU) cores;

an embedded computer with one or more CPU cores;

a graphics processing unit (GPU);

an embedded GPU;

a field programmable gate array (FPGA); or

an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

11. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

optimizing the first program based on the convergence property.

12. The non-transitory computer accessible memory medium of claim 11 , wherein said optimizing the first program based on the convergence property comprises one or more of:

constant propagation and folding;

range propagation and minimization;

array size inference;

dead code elimination;

loop transformations,

array transformations;

memory optimization;

inserting assertions;

inserting code coverage instrumentation;

loop unrolling;

in-lining of subprograms;

out-lining of portions of programs;

data type propagation and refinement;

float to fixed data type conversion;

optimization of overflow/quantization operations;

type conversion insertion; or

converting to look-up table implementations.

13. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:

utilizing a computer to perform:

determining, based on dependencies of one or more variables in a first program, one or more state variables of the first program;

creating, based on the one or more state variables and dependencies of the one or more state variables, a second program corresponding to the first program;

executing the second program a plurality of times, comprising:

for each execution:

recording values of the one or more state variables;

determining an execution count;

comparing the values to corresponding values from previous executions of the second program; and

terminating said executing in response to determining that the values match corresponding values from at least one previous execution of the second program;

determining, based on the execution count, a convergence property for the first program that indicates a number of executions of the first program required to generate all possible values of the one or more variables; and

storing the convergence property, wherein the convergence property is useable to optimize the first program;

wherein said determining one or more state variables, said creating, and said executing are performed as part of compiling the first program.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the first program comprises one or more of:

a data flow program;

a graphical program;

a graphical data flow program;

a hardware description program;

a procedural program;

a functional program;

a textual program; or

a declarative program.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein said executing the second program comprises one or more of:

running compiled code on a computer, wherein the compiled code is generated from at least a portion of the second program;

interpreting program statements of at least a portion of the second program; or

evaluating operations in a graph generated from at least a portion of the second program.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the convergence property comprises one or more of:

a finite integer value;

a real value, indicating a fractional execution of the program;

an indication that there is no convergence; or

a convergence property for each variable of at least a subset of variables in the first program.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 , further comprising:

compiling the first program based on the convergence property, said compiling comprising generating code configured to run on one or more of:

a desktop computer with one or more central processing unit (CPU) cores;

an embedded computer with one or more CPU cores;

a graphics processing unit (GPU);

an embedded GPU;

a field programmable gate array (FPGA); or

an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions are further executable to implement:

optimizing the first program based on the convergence property.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 , wherein said optimizing the first program based on the convergence property comprises one or more of:

constant propagation and folding;

range propagation and minimization;

array size inference;

dead code elimination;

loop transformations,

array transformations;

memory optimization;

inserting assertions;

inserting code coverage instrumentation;

loop unrolling;

in-lining of subprograms;

out-lining of portions of programs;

data type propagation and refinement;

float to fixed data type conversion;

optimization of overflow/quantization operations;

type conversion insertion; or

converting to look-up table implementations.