System-level design tools

The author explains the basics of system level design and discusses the evolution of design methods. A system complex enough to require system-level design tools is characterised typically by one or both of the following factors: concurrency within the system and randomness of input and output. He discusses randomness and concurrency then gives examples of systems that meet the criteria. He outlines the four key steps of system design: specifying the system; elaborating the design; evaluating design alternatives; and verifying that the design defined so far will produce the intended results. Finally, the author describes the features of Zycad Ltd.´s Endot range of system level tools