Andreas Gerstlauer - Böcker

Over recent years, embedded systems have gained an enormous amount of processing power and functionality. Many of the formerly external components can now be integrated into a single System-on-Chip. This tendency has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the size and cost of embedded systems. As a unique technology, the design of embedded systems is an essential element of many innovations.Embedded System Design: Topics, Techniques and Trends presents the technical program of the International Embedded Systems Symposium (IESS) 2007 held in Irvine, California. IESS is a unique forum to present novel ideas, exchange timely research results, and discuss the state of the art and future trends in the field of embedded systems. Contributors and participants from both industry and academia take active part in this symposium. The IESS conference is organized by the Computer Systems Technology committee (TC10) of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). Timley topics, techniques and trends in embedded system design are covered by the chapters in this book, including design methodology, specification and modeling, embedded software and hardware synthesis, networks-on-chip, distributed and networked systems, and system verification and validation. Particular emphaisis is paid to automotive and medical applications. A set of actual case studies and special aspects in embedded system design are included as well.

This text presents the system design flow following a simple example through the whole process in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step fashion. Each step is described in detail in pictorial form and with code examples in SpecC. For each picture slide a detailed explanation is provided of the concepts presented. Features include: comprehensive introduction to and description of the SpecC language and design methodology; IP-centric language and methodology with focus on design re-use; and a complete framework for system-level design from specification to implementation for SOCs and other embedded HW/SW systems.

For the near future, the recent predictions and roadmaps of silicon semiconductor technology all agree that the number of transistors on a chip will keep growing exponentially according to Moore's Law, pushing technology towards the system-on-a-chip (SOC) era. However, we are increasingly experiencing a productivity gap where the chip complexity that can be handled by current design teams falls short of the possibilities offered by technological advances. Together with growing time-to-market pressures, this drives the need for innovative measures to increase design productivity by orders of magnitude. It is commonly agreed that the solutions for achieving such a leap in design productivity lie in a shift of the focus of the design process to higher levels of abstraction on the one hand, and in the massive re-use of predesigned, complex system components (intellectual property, IP) on the other hand. In order to be successful, both concepts eventually require the adoption of new languages and methodologies for system design, backed up by the availability of a corresponding set of system-level design automation tools.This book presents the SpecC system-level design language (SLDL) and the corresponding SpecC design methodology. The SpecC language is intended for specification and design of SOCs or embedded systems including software and hardware, whether using fixed platforms, integrating systems from different IPs, or synthesizing the system blocks from programming or hardware description languages. The text describes the SpecC methodology that leads designers from an executable specification to an RTL implementation through a well-defined sequence of steps. Each model is described and guidelines are given for generating these models from executable specifications. Finally, the SpecC methodology is demonstrated on an industrial-size example. The design community is now entering the system level of abstraction era and SpecC is the enabling element to achieve a paradigm shift in design culture needed for system/product design and manufacturing.

Embedded System Design: Modeling, Synthesis and Verification introduces a model-based approach to system level design. It presents modeling techniques for both computation and communication at different levels of abstraction, such as specification, transaction level and cycle-accurate level. It discusses synthesis methods for system level architectures, embedded software and hardware components. Using these methods, designers can develop applications with high level models, which are automatically translatable to low level implementations. This book, furthermore, describes simulation-based and formal verification methods that are essential for achieving design confidence. The book concludes with an overview of existing tools along with a design case study outlining the practice of embedded system design. Specifically, this book addresses the following topics in detail:. System modeling at different abstraction levels. Model-based system design. Hardware/Software codesign. Software and Hardware component synthesis. System verificationThis book is for groups within the embedded system community: students in courses on embedded systems, embedded application developers, system designers and managers, CAD tool developers, design automation, and system engineering.

Over recent years, embedded systems have gained an enormous amount of processing power and functionality. Many of the formerly external components can now be integrated into a single System-on-Chip. This tendency has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the size and cost of embedded systems. As a unique technology, the design of embedded systems is an essential element of many innovations.Embedded System Design: Topics, Techniques and Trends presents the technical program of the International Embedded Systems Symposium (IESS) 2007 held in Irvine, California. IESS is a unique forum to present novel ideas, exchange timely research results, and discuss the state of the art and future trends in the field of embedded systems. Contributors and participants from both industry and academia take active part in this symposium. The IESS conference is organized by the Computer Systems Technology committee (TC10) of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). Timley topics, techniques and trends in embedded system design are covered by the chapters in this book, including design methodology, specification and modeling, embedded software and hardware synthesis, networks-on-chip, distributed and networked systems, and system verification and validation. Particular emphaisis is paid to automotive and medical applications. A set of actual case studies and special aspects in embedded system design are included as well.

System Design: A Practical Guide with SpecC presents the system design flow following a simple example through the whole process in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step fashion. Each step is described in detail in pictorial form and with code examples in SpecC. For each picture slide a detailed explanation is provided of the concepts presented. This format is suited for tutorials, seminars, self-study, as a guided reference carried by examples, or as teaching material for courses on system design. Features: Comprehensive introduction to and description of the SpecC language and design methodology; IP-centric language and methodology with focus on design reuse; Complete framework for system-level design from specification to implementation for SOCs and other embedded HW/SW systems. System Design: A Practical Guide with SpecC will benefit designers and design managers of complex SOCs, or embedded systems in general, by allowing them to develop new methodologies from these results, in order to increase design productivity by orders of magnitude. Designers at RTL, logical or physical levels, who are interested in moving up to the system level, will find a comprehensive overview within. The design models in the book define IP models and functions for IP exchange between IP providers and their users. A well-defined methodology like the one presented in this book will help product planning divisions to quickly develop new products or to derive completely new business models, like e-design or product-on-demand. Finally, researchers and students in the area of system design will find an example of a formal, well-structured design flow in this book.

For the near future, the recent predictions and roadmaps of silicon semiconductor technology all agree that the number of transistors on a chip will keep growing exponentially according to Moore's Law, pushing technology towards the system-on-a-chip (SOC) era. However, we are increasingly experiencing a productivity gap where the chip complexity that can be handled by current design teams falls short of the possibilities offered by technological advances. Together with growing time-to-market pressures, this drives the need for innovative measures to increase design productivity by orders of magnitude. It is commonly agreed that the solutions for achieving such a leap in design productivity lie in a shift of the focus of the design process to higher levels of abstraction on the one hand and in the massive reuse of predesigned, complex system components (intellectual property, IP) on the other hand. In order to be successful, both concepts eventually require the adoption of new languages and methodologies for system design, backed-up by the availability of a corresponding set of system-level design automation tools. This book presents the SpecC system-level design language (SLDL) and the corresponding SpecC design methodology. The SpecC language is intended for specification and design of SOCs or embedded systems including software and hardware, whether using fixed platforms, integrating systems from different IPs, or synthesizing the system blocks from programming or hardware description languages. SpecC Specification Language and Methodology describes the SpecC methodology that leads designers from an executable specification to an RTL implementation through a well-defined sequence of steps. Each model is described and guidelines are given for generating these models from executable specifications. Finally, the SpecC methodology is demonstrated on an industrial-size example. The design community is now entering the system level of abstraction era and SpecC is the enabling element to achieve a paradigm shift in design culture needed for system/product design and manufacturing. SpecC Specification Language and Methodology will be of interest to researchers, designers, and managers dealing with system-level design, design flows and methodologies as well as students learning system specification, modeling and design.