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What's your embedded strategy?
Nicolas Mokhoff
4/2/2012 1:26 PM EDT
STMicroelectronics
Use reusable architecture
STMicroelectronics utilizes a general system-on-chip architecture to facilitate reuse and accelerate development, and has similarly developed an integrated embedded strategy designed to minimize rework.
ST considered two critical requirements when developing its embedded strategy:
• the ability to develop software as early as possible; and
• a smooth transition between development phases, from architectural modeling to silicon.
The resultant embedded approach is centered on a reusable virtual platform environment that supports multiple design implementations, including simulated transaction-level models and emulated RTL models.
One of the biggest challenges for any embedded strategy that includes a hardware implementation is performance. Emulation is a critical component of this type of embedded strategy because it can maintain the megahertz performance levels typically only afforded by transaction-level modeling (TLM).
Early in the development process, emulation can execute IP that does not have a transaction-level model, enabling architectural exploration and some early performance and power modeling based on the software. As the SoC hardware is developed, more TLM blocks can be replaced with RTL code; and, eventually, the software can be validated on a hardware representation of the entire system prior to tapeout.
Emulation also removes barriers between the hardware and software development teams. In the past, those teams tended to operate in silos. But as software begins to take center stage in modern SoC development, hardware and software teams must now work closely together for system realization.
In STMicroelectronics’ emulation-powered embedded strategy, the hardware team continually refreshes the model used by the software team. The teams interact throughout the development process, resulting in higher quality as potential system-level issues are identified and addressed sooner rather than later.
As such, STMicroelectronics uses EVE's ZeBu emulation systems, along with its transactors and memory models, in a virtual prototyping environment for the development of 3-D graphics and advanced video codec technologies. — Laurent Ducousso and Lauro Rizzatti
Laurent Ducousso is IP verification manager for Connected Home Division R&D at STMicroelectronics NV, where his responsibilities extend to IP and system modeling. Ducousso has 24 years of experience in digital design and verification. He holds a PhD in computer science.
Lauro Rizzatti, general manager at EVE-USA, has more than 30 years of experience in EDA and ATE.
Next: Tensilica
Use reusable architecture
STMicroelectronics utilizes a general system-on-chip architecture to facilitate reuse and accelerate development, and has similarly developed an integrated embedded strategy designed to minimize rework.
ST considered two critical requirements when developing its embedded strategy:
• the ability to develop software as early as possible; and
• a smooth transition between development phases, from architectural modeling to silicon.
The resultant embedded approach is centered on a reusable virtual platform environment that supports multiple design implementations, including simulated transaction-level models and emulated RTL models.
One of the biggest challenges for any embedded strategy that includes a hardware implementation is performance. Emulation is a critical component of this type of embedded strategy because it can maintain the megahertz performance levels typically only afforded by transaction-level modeling (TLM).
Early in the development process, emulation can execute IP that does not have a transaction-level model, enabling architectural exploration and some early performance and power modeling based on the software. As the SoC hardware is developed, more TLM blocks can be replaced with RTL code; and, eventually, the software can be validated on a hardware representation of the entire system prior to tapeout.
Emulation also removes barriers between the hardware and software development teams. In the past, those teams tended to operate in silos. But as software begins to take center stage in modern SoC development, hardware and software teams must now work closely together for system realization.
In STMicroelectronics’ emulation-powered embedded strategy, the hardware team continually refreshes the model used by the software team. The teams interact throughout the development process, resulting in higher quality as potential system-level issues are identified and addressed sooner rather than later.
As such, STMicroelectronics uses EVE's ZeBu emulation systems, along with its transactors and memory models, in a virtual prototyping environment for the development of 3-D graphics and advanced video codec technologies. — Laurent Ducousso and Lauro Rizzatti
Next: Tensilica
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