C-Based Design Suite Includes Synthesis To FPGAs

Designers continue to explore algorithmic design, which lends itself well to experimentation with FPGAs as the implementation vehicle. Version 3.0 of the DK Design Suite extends functionality to include synthesis of complex C-based algorithms directly to FPGAs. With the suite's new synthesis feature, users can perform area/speed tradeoffs directly from their C algorithms for performance gains of 100% or more without requiring changes to their source code.

The Handel-C synthesis tool supports the latest devices from Altera and Xilinx as well as a number of other reconfigurable architectures. Also, it now retimes hardware-critical paths. It automatically uses FPGA combinatorial multipliers and on-chip resources. And, it automatically pipelines synchronous memory blocks.

Nexus-PDK3, the suite's co-simulation environment, has been enhanced as well. A new co-simulation manager concurrently handles multiple simulation environments. Nexus-PDK3 also manages data linking and global clocks across simulations, and it provides easier user setup. The environment supports co-simulation of cycle-accurate C, C++, and Handel-C models with SystemC, Matlab/Simulink, and VHDL and Verilog simulators.

Available in March, DK Design Suite version 3.0 starts at $2000 for the Platform Developer's Package configuration.