Interface co-synthesis techniques for embedded systems

A key aspect of the synthesis of embedded systems is the automatic integration of system components. This entails the derivation of both the hardware and software interfaces that will bind these elements together and permit them to communicate correctly and efficiently. Without the automatic synthesis of these interfaces, designers are not able to fully simulate and evaluate their systems. Frequently, they are discouraged from exploring the design space of different hardware/software partitions because practical concerns mandate minimizing changes late in the design cycle, thus leading to more costly implementations than necessary. This paper presents a set of techniques that form the basis of a comprehensive solution to the synthesis of hardware/software interfaces. Software drivers and glue logic are generated to connect processors to peripheral devices, hardware co-processors, or communication interfaces while meeting bandwidth and performance requirements. We use as examples a set of devices that communicate over an infrared local communications network (highlighting a video wrist-watch display) to explain our techniques and the need for design space exploration tools for embedded systems.