Analytical timing estimation for temporally decoupled TLMs considering resource conflicts

Transaction level models (TLMs) can use temporal decoupling to increase the simulation speed. However, there is a lack of modeling support to time the temporally decoupled TLMs. In this paper, we propose a timing estimation mechanism for TLMs with temporal decoupling. This mechanism features an analytical model and novel delay formulas. Concepts such as resource usage and availability are used to derive the delay formulas. Based on them, a fast scheduling algorithm resolves resource conflicts and dynamically determines the timing of concurrent transaction sequences. Experiments show that the delay estimation formulas are capable of capturing the timing effects of resource conflicts. At the same time, the overhead of the scheduling algorithm is very low, hence the simulation speed remains high.