Techniques to improve cosimulation and interoperability of heterogeneous models

Heterogeneous systems design requires simulating models using different simulators. In this paper, we propose new approaches for interconnecting simulators based on interoperability and managed code. Managed code has many introspection and safety mechanisms. We demonstrate that SystemC can be encapsulated in a managed code in order to interoperate with managed environments such as Esys.Net. We have also explored different mechanisms where Esys.Net, Matlab/Simulink and SystemC co-simulate. Interoperability between simulators is implemented using different mechanisms such as COM, TCP/IP, shared memory, etc. Measures of performance are given; they show that new mechanisms not yet used in cosimulation can give an unexpected performance boost for interconnecting Esys.Net with other simulators.