A Methodology for Design Space Exploration in Embedded DSP Applications

Advances in IC fabrication technology have made the design of complex and powerful embedded appliances feasible. To design such appliances, a hardware/software co-design methodology, which allows concurrent hardware and software development before a system prototype is available, is the preferred solution. This paper presents a co-design methodology for embedded DSP applications, starting from MATLAB/Simulink descriptions and exploring the design space based on SystemC 2.1. It unifies software (applications and RTOS) and hardware (CPU, DSP and glue logic) through different abstraction levels. The paper presents the different entities, tools and techniques required for an accurate system co-simulation during all refinement phases, from functionality to implementation.