Partitioning Decision Process for Embedded Hardware and Software Deployment

Many types of embedded systems applications are implemented as a combination of software and hardware. For such systems the mapping of the application units into hardware and software, i.e. the partitioning process, is a key phase of the design. Although there exist techniques for partitioning, the entire process, in particular in relation to different application requirements and project constraints, is not properly supported. This leads to several unplanned iterations, redesigns and interruptions due to uncontrolled dependencies between hardware and software parts. In order to overcome these problems, we provide a design process that enables the partitioning based on a multiple criteria decision analysis in a late design phase. We illustrate the proposed approach and provide a proof-of concept on an industrial case study to validate the approach applicability.