In an effort to develop an advanced system-level-design solution for complex system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs, Synopsys Inc., Mountain View, Calif., and Europe-based STMicroelectronics have joined forces. This three-year partnership comes on the heels of the recent introduction of the SystemC modeling platform based on a class-library-based extension of the C++ programming language. As a result of this agreement, this language will serve as the basis for formulating SoC design flows, complete with advanced tools and technology.
As the partnership gets under way, the two companies will develop a C-based system-level-design environment that will offer users hardware/software co-design, co-verification, and performance analysis capabilities. SystemC will provide the necessary constructs to describe the hardware, software, and system aspects of a complex SoC and its operating environment.
To accommodate the strong demand for digital-signal processing (DSP) applications, Synopsys and STMicroelectronics also will create an advanced tool suite capable of addressing the unique challenges of developing software for fixed-point DSPs.
Once completed, these tools be validated through pilot projects. Then, they'll be released initially to STMicroelectronics' design teams and customers.
For more details about this partnership, check out the www.st.com and www.synopsys.com web sites. Information about the SystemC language can be found by surfing into www.systemC.org.