Processor Description Languages

Efficient design of embedded processors plays a critical role in embedded systems design. Processor description languages and their associated specification, exploration and rapid prototyping methodologies are used to find the best possible design for a given set of applications under various design constraints, such as area, power and performance. This book is the first, comprehensive survey of modern architecture description languages and will be an invaluable reference for embedded system architects, designers, developers, and validation engineers. Readers will see that the use of particular architecture description languages will lead to productivity gains in designing particular (application-specific) types of embedded processors. * Comprehensive coverage of all modern architecture description languages... use the right ADL to design your processor to fit your application; * Most up-to-date information available about each architecture description language from the developers...save time chasing down reliable documentation; * Describes how each architecture desccription language enables key design automation tasks, such as simulation, synthesis and testing...fit the ADL to your design cycle;

Efficient design of embedded processors plays a critical role in embedded systems design. Processor description languages and their associated specification, exploration and rapid prototyping methodologies are used to find the best possible design for a given set of applications under various design constraints, such as area, power and performance. This book is the first, comprehensive survey of modern architecture description languages and will be an invaluable reference for embedded system architects, designers, developers, and validation engineers. Readers will see that the use of particular architecture description languages will lead to productivity gains in designing particular (application-specific) types of embedded processors. * Comprehensive coverage of all modern architecture description languages ... use the right ADL to design your processor to fit your application; * Most up-to-date information available about each architecture description language from the developers ... save time chasing down reliable documentation; * Describes how each architecture desccription language enables key design automation tasks, such as simulation, synthesis and testing ... fit the ADL to your design cycle.

Hardware description languages (HDLs) have established themselves as one of the principal means of designing electronic systems. The interest in and usage of HDLs continues to spread rapidly, driven by the increasing complexity of systems, the growth of HDL-driven synthesis, the research on formal design methods and many other related advances. This research-oriented publication aims to make a strong contribution to further developments in the field. The following topics are explored in depth: BDD-based system design and analysis; system level formal verification; formal reasoning on hardware; languages for protocol specification; VHDL; HDL-based design methods; high level synthesis; and text/graphical HDLs. There are short papers covering advanced design capture and recent work in high level synthesis and formal verification. In addition, several invited presentations on key issues discuss and summarize recent advances in real time system design, automatic verification of sequential circuits and languages for protocol specification.

Today more than 90% of all programmable processors are employed in embedded systems. The LISA processor design platform presented in this book addresses recent design challenges and results in highly satisfactory solutions, covering all major high-level phases of embedded processor design.

New software tools and a sophisticated methodology above RTL are required to answer the challenges of designing an optimized application specific processor (ASIP). This book offers an automated and fully integrated implementation flow and compares it to common implementation practice. It provides case-studies that emphasize that neither the architectural advantages nor the design space of ASIPs are sacrificed for an automated implementation.

The next generation of computer system designers will be less concerned about details of processors and memories, and more concerned about the elements of a system tailored to particular applications. These designers will have a fundamental knowledge of processors and other elements in the system, but the success of their design will depend on the skills in making system-level tradeoffs that optimize the cost, performance and other attributes to meet application requirements. This book provides a new treatment of computer system design, particularly for System-on-Chip (SOC), which addresses the issues mentioned above. It begins with a global introduction, from the high-level view to the lowest common denominator (the chip itself), then moves on to the three main building blocks of an SOC (processor, memory, and interconnect). Next is an overview of what makes SOC unique (its customization ability and the applications that drive it). The final chapter presents future challenges for system design and SOC possibilities.

The art of transforming a circuit idea into a chip has changed permanently. Formerly, the electrical, physical and geometrical tasks were predominant. Later, mainly net lists of gates had to be constructed. Nowadays, hardware description languages (HDL) similar to programming languages are central to digital circuit design. HDL-based design is the main subject of this book. After emphasizing the economic importance of chip design as a key technology, the book deals with VLSI design (Very Large Scale Integration), the design of modern RISC processors, the hardware description language VERILOG, and typical modeling techniques. Numerous examples as well as a VERILOG training simulator are included on a disk.

The first of two volumes in the Electronic Design Automation for Integrated Circuits Handbook, Second Edition, Electronic Design Automation for IC System Design, Verification, and Testing thoroughly examines system-level design, microarchitectural design, logic verification, and testing. Chapters contributed by leading experts authoritatively discuss processor modeling and design tools, using performance metrics to select microprocessor cores for integrated circuit (IC) designs, design and verification languages, digital simulation, hardware acceleration and emulation, and much more. New to This Edition: Major updates appearing in the initial phases of the design flow, where the level of abstraction keeps rising to support more functionality with lower non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs Significant revisions reflected in the final phases of the design flow, where the complexity due to smaller and smaller geometries is compounded by the slow progress of shorter wavelength lithography New coverage of cutting-edge applications and approaches realized in the decade since publication of the previous edition—these are illustrated by new chapters on high-level synthesis, system-on-chip (SoC) block-based design, and back-annotating system-level models Offering improved depth and modernity, Electronic Design Automation for IC System Design, Verification, and Testing provides a valuable, state-of-the-art reference for electronic design automation (EDA) students, researchers, and professionals.