The Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) has delivered its Draft SystemC Transaction-Level Modeling (TLM) 2.0 kit, containing proposed extensions to OSCI TLM application programming interface (API) standards, an open-source library implementation, and interoperable modeling examples for world-wide public review by the SystemC community.
It's hoped that the availability of emerging SystemC TLM 2.0 specifications will significantly advance the development of industry-standard transaction-level interfaces and the interoperability of models needed for design and verification of system-on-chips (SoCs) at the system level. Design at the transaction level enables users to efficiently develop SoC virtual prototypes before physical implementation, making it the framework for high-level modeling, software development, and system validation.
Designed for use with the SystemC IEEE-standard 1666-2005 language and OSCI's standard TLM 1.0 transport API, the TLM 2.0 proposal extends the foundation upon which interoperable transaction-level communication can be built. TLM 2.0 will broaden the standard by defining the content of transactions and how they are moved and controlled within the system. This includes new data structures and APIs for un-timed programmer's view (PV) models of bus and network-on-chip based systems that can be used to enable concurrent development of embedded software and the hardware platform that work together to implement system-on-chip functionality. It also includes data structures and APIs for programmer's view with timing (PVT) models appropriate for architecture design and system performance analysis. The TLM 2.0 draft library also demonstrates a new analysis interface for advanced transaction-level verification environments.
SystemC users and developers of transaction level tools and models are encouraged to participate in the public review of the TLM 2.0 draft, with the initial period for public review extending through the first week of February, 2007. At that time, the OSCI TLM working group will consolidate feedback. Preparation of an updated final draft specification is slated for April, 2007 with public availability planned in conjunction with the 2007 DATE Conference. This second period of public review will continue through mid-May, 2007, allowing any remaining feedback to be incorporated into the fully documented TLM 2.0 Language Reference Manual standard and open-source library release by the 2007 Design Automation Conference in June.
As a result of a partnership between OSCI and the IEEE, the IEEE 1666-2005 Standard SystemC Language Reference Manual (LRM) is now available free of charge on the IEEE website at http://standards.ieee.org/getieee/1666/index.html.
To download an open-source license for the Draft TLM 2.0 kit and library implementation, visit www.systemc.org.
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