Pipeline (computing) - Design Considerations

Design Considerations

One key aspect of pipeline design is balancing pipeline stages. Using the assembly line example, we could have greater time savings if both the engine and wheels took only 15 minutes. Although the system latency would still be 35 minutes, we would be able to output a new car every 15 minutes. In other words, a pipelined process outputs finished items at a rate determined by its slowest part. (Note that if the time taken to add the engine could not be reduced below 20 minutes, it would not make any difference to the stable output rate if all other components increased their production time to 20 minutes.)

Another design consideration is the provision of adequate buffering between the pipeline stages — especially when the processing times are irregular, or when data items may be created or destroyed along the pipeline.