IDE Lays SystemC Designs Bare For Easier Debugging

Sometimes design abstraction is a help, and sometimes it's a hindrance. Verification of system-on-a-chip designs with SystemC has a demonstrated ability to significantly speed up simulation runs. However, analysis and debugging at abstraction levels
June 23, 2005
2 min read

Sometimes design abstraction is a help, and sometimes it's a hindrance. Verification of system-on-a-chip designs with SystemC has a demonstrated ability to significantly speed up simulation runs. However, analysis and debugging at abstraction levels higher than cycle-accurate have proved difficult and time-consuming.

Summit Design's Vista 1.1, an integrated development environment (IDE) for SystemC-based analysis and debug, is equipped with a transaction-level modeling (TLM) viewer that works with the user's SystemC simulator (see the figure). What you get is direct observability of the key attributes of SystemC transaction-level models, including time, kernel cycles, return value, function attributes, structure, and concurrency.

Users can automatically view communication protocols and system-level interfaces, with a view of transaction function calls between blocks. There's no need for the time-consuming manual code instrumentation that's historically been necessary in SystemC debug environments, either.

Vista's TLM waveform viewer expands simulation time to display simulation cycles, allowing users to clearly view the event ordering that's critical to the debug of event-based and untimed designs. Vista efficiently handles SystemC instance-specific breakpoints. The waveform viewer displays not only system-specific signals, but also any object in the design.

Vista is suitable for both experienced and novice SystemC designers. With the tight link between the IDE's design and code browsers, new SystemC users can easily understand a design. Vista 1.1 will be available in the third quarter for the Linux platform. Prices start at $5000 for a one-year license.

Summit Design Inc.www.summit-design.com

About the Author

David Maliniak

MWRF Executive Editor

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.
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