[Design View / Design Solution]
Wring Out Better, Faster Results Through System-Level Design
Starting with block-level design tools, iteratively refine whole systems down to their low-level implementation details.
Daunting time-to-market pressures coupled with design complexity caused by converging voice, data, and multimedia technologies leave companies facing a host of serious challenges. Unfortunately, because the current design-verification process occurs late in the design cycle, there's a high risk of design failure and the resultant time-to-market delays. Testing the whole system's behavior rarely happens before investing in costly hardware or embedded software design.
An effective way to deal with this problem is to perform high-level design and testing early in the development process using system-level design techniques. After building a prototype, engineers can use advanced test-and-measurement tools to verify that the product meets the intended design specifications. This article outlines some of the more significant benefits of a system-level design approach, in the context of an ADSL modem design. By starting with block-level design tools, whole systems can be iteratively refined down to their low-level implementation details.
HIGHLIGHTS:
System-Level Design
At this level, systematic testing of an entire system's behavior is performed early in the design process. It involves architectural design and behavioral simulation.
System-Level Design Tools
Languages, such as C/C++ and HDLs, and block diagrams are among the proposed tools for system-level design.
Block-Diagram Tools
These tools make it possible to construct a diagram of predefined blocks that represent the system architecture. They usually come with libraries of prebuilt and verified system components.
ADSL Example
In this article, an asymmetric-digital-subscriber-line (ADSL) modem design example helps illustrate using a block-diagram tool to model a system.
Testing & Measuring ADSL2
Design reuse is a critical consideration when it comes to evolving standards, such as with ADSL2.
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