Data transfer interface design in DAME

The authors discuss the component model and interface design procedure for data transfer in DAME (Design Automation of Microprocessor based systems, using an Expert system approach), a system in development that will be capable of producing the complete design from an original system specification, such as the type of application, cost, processing requirements, and power consumption. Signal connecting microprocessor components are used to transfer information between the components. Several different types of information were found to be involved in data transfer. The model developed for data transfer treats each of the information exchanges as a primitive. Each information primitive consists of the timing information of signals involved and the state information about the exact state of these signals during the information exchange. In DAME, design decisions are made by a set of rules that manipulates the information exchange primitives to obtain the final interface design