A Simulink(c)-based approach to system level design and architecture selection

We propose a design flow for low-power and low-cost, data-dominated, embedded systems which tightly integrate different technologies and architectures. We use Mathworks´ Simulink(c) environment for functional specification and analysis of performance criteria such as timing (latency and throughput) and power dissipation. The flow can exploit trade-offs between software and hardware as well as between digital and analog implementations, and it can generate, respectively, the C, VHDL and Skill codes of the selected architecture. The proposed system has several cost functions such as power consumption, speed, area, and it can optimize the design according to any of them