Automated feature localization for dynamically generated SystemC designs

Due to the large complexity of today´s circuits and systems, all components e.g. in a System on Chip (SoC) cannot be designed from scratch anymore. As a consequence, designers frequently work on components which they did not create themselves and, hence, design understanding becomes a crucial issue. Approaches for feature localization help by pinpointing to distinguished characteristics of a design. However, existing approaches for feature localization mainly focused on the Register Transfer Level; existing solutions for the Electronic System Level (using languages such as SystemC) have severe limits. In this work, we propose an approach for advanced feature localization in SystemC designs. By this, we overcome major limitations of previously proposed solutions, in particular the missing support for dynamically generated designs, while keeping the proposed solution as non-intrusive as possible. The benefits of our approach are confirmed by means of a case study.