Electronic design automation
Article Abstract:
By definition, a system on a chip consists of hardware and software which work together on a single chip. This poses a problem to electronic designers. Traditionally, languages like Verilog or VDHL are used for the design of the chip's logical circuit, and C or C++ are used for the software component. The need has arisen for a unified design language that can address the software and hardware considerations together. Co-Design Automation, Inc has developed a language called Superlog which incorporates elements of Verilog with elements of C. The language is in the process of being verified and standardized, and design tools are being developed by a number of companies. Another alternative called SystemC has been developed that extends the C/C++ specification into the realm of hardware. The defacto standard has yet to emerge.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 2000
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Electronic design automation
Article Abstract:
In 1999 the focus of electronic design automation (EDA) groups will be on working getting system-on-a-chip (SOC) designs off the ground by dealing with system-level design issues and physical effects found in the submicron level. Stepped-up design services will be offered for system houses and new flows and methods will be tailored to reuse of design and SOCs. Manufacturing techniques were once the bottleneck in chip technology, but in 1999 it is the problems, both high-level and low-level, of designing large and extremely dense chips with extremely small components. Hardware/software (HW/SW) co-design lets software engineers start integrating software function with hardware before the hardware exists. Design reuse is ramping up, but slowly. The Virtual Socket Interface Alliance is working on problems of intellectual property reuse and standardized formats. Companies discussed include Toshiba, Monterey Design Systems, Synopsys, Avant!, Sente, Simplex Solutions, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, ChipLogic, Xentec (Toronto), Simutech Systems and Magma Design Automation.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1999
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Design tools for analog and digital ICs
Article Abstract:
Electronic design automation tools for digital and analog ICs are becoming more advanced. IC design engineers must design and verify application-specific ICs with millions of logic gates, and they must continually speed the process. Pre-designed components from more than one source are often involved, hardware must work with software and dimensions are ever-smaller, all of which complicate the process. Designing in C is good for several reasons, among them that HCL simulators are slower by an order of magnitude than native C execution. Companies whose products are discussed include Cadence Design Systems, Avant!, Synopsys, Model Technology, Mentor Graphics, Analogy, Frontier Design (Belgium), Simplex Solutions, Silicon Metrics, and Exemplar
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1999
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic: