  We introduce DRAGON, an open-source, fast and explainable hardware simulation
and optimization toolchain that enables hardware architects to simulate
hardware designs, and to optimize hardware designs to efficiently execute
workloads.
  The DRAGON toolchain provides the following tools: Hardware Model Generator
(DGen), Hardware Simulator (DSim) and Hardware Optimizer (DOpt).
  DSim provides the simulation of running algorithms (represented as data-flow
graphs) on hardware described. DGen describes the hardware in detail, with user
input architectures/technology (represented in a custom description language).
A novel methodology of gradient descent from the simulation allows us optimize
the hardware model (giving the directions for improvements in technology
parameters and design parameters), provided by Dopt.
  DRAGON framework (DSim) is much faster than previously avaible works for
simulation, which is possible through performance-first code writing practices,
mathematical formulas for common computing operations to avoid cycle-accurate
simulation steps, efficient algorithms for mapping, and data-structure
representations for hardware state. DRAGON framework (Dopt) generates
performance optimized architectures for both AI and Non-AI Workloads, and
provides technology improvement directions for 100x-1000x better future
computing systems.
