Now that an electronic system-level
(ESL) tool vendor is using the
term “ESL 2.0,” I can hear the
snickering already, especially from the
hardcore RTL camp. Is this just some
kind of marketing ploy intended to sell
more of the same-old? Or is there more
than meets the eye?
Marketing ploy or not, ESL is to some
extent a state of mind. As one of the earlier
entrants in the ESL arena, CoWare
has been rethinking its approach, especially
in light of today’s system-on-a-chip
(SoC) design challenges: network-on-chip
architectures, multicore designs, and
multiple, dependent software stacks.
CoWare’s stance is that with these challenges,
the industry has reached an
inflection point in ESL adoption.
What’s new about CoWare’s latest
release is its comprehensive approach to
the building of virtual platforms (see the
figure). The release spans six areas: platform
architecture design, software development,
platform verification, application
subsystem design, processor
design, and DSP algorithm design.
Thanks to the introduction of design
starter kits that can be used as templates,
users in production environments gain a
50% improvement in ramp-up time. Further,
a number of additions to the release
bring a tenfold productivity improvement to
the modeling of multicore platforms.
A SystemC Component Wizard provides
for automatic testbench creation, while a
Bus Library Wizard
quickly performs
interconnect setup.
An expanded IP model
library includes
new processor, interconnect,
and peripheral
IP models as
well as a new wireless
library for DSP
algorithm design.
Platform simulation
is up to 200% faster,
while instruction-set
simulation is up to
400% faster.
CoWare’s ESL 2.0
solution is available
now. Pricing varies
based on the tool
configuration.
CoWare
www.coware.com