Automatic generation of interfaces for distributed C-VHDL cosimulation of embedded systems: an industrial experience

This paper presents a distributed hardware/software cosimulation environment for heterogeneous systems prototyping applied to an industrial application. The environment provides following features: distributed Hw/Sw cosimulation, automatic Hw/Sw interface generation, Hw elements can be described at different levels of abstraction and generic/specific Sw debuggers can be used. Starting from a brief description of the interface of the interconnected modules the tool automatically produces the link between Hw and Sw parts. In addition, the environment is very easy to use, even for complex systems that may include several Sw (C) modules and several Hw (VHDL) modules running in parallel. Applied to a large industrial multi-processor system, this method appeared reliable and efficient, providing important benefits in hardware-software codesign: better design environment and reduced time to validate