DocumentCode :
810141
Title :
From C to netlists: hardware engineering for software engineers?
Author :
Alston, Ian ; Madahar, Bob
Author_Institution :
Syst. Dept., BAE SYSTEMS Adv. Technol. Centre, Chelmsford, UK
Volume :
14
Issue :
4
fYear :
2002
fDate :
8/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
165
Lastpage :
173
Abstract :
The software programmable multiprocessor architecture has been employed extensively over the past two decades for embedded signal-processing applications. However, the increased complexity of such systems has, in many cases, required the use of hardware acceleration to meet the growing time-critical aspects of the design. Today´s field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) offer an alternative or additional acceleration platform, especially to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). However, the traditional low-level development methods, such as schematic capture or hardware description languages (HDLs), employed to implement these hardware accelerated parts of the design result in a design lifecycle mismatch between the rapid development techniques available for the software programmable parts. This paper presents high-level design languages that enable users to generate netlists for FPGAs directly from high-level C-like languages, thereby offering an equivalent programming solution to that available with microprocessors. It details how one of these languages can be integrated into a high-level design flow for the rapid development of heterogeneous embedded signal-processing systems and presents results from a benchmark
Keywords :
C language; application specific integrated circuits; digital signal processing chips; embedded systems; field programmable gate arrays; logic CAD; ASIC; DSP algorithms; FPGA; application-specific integrated circuit; design lifecycle; digital signal-processing algorithms; embedded signal-processing; field-programmable gate arrays; hardware acceleration; hardware description languages; hardware engineering; heterogeneous embedded signal-processing systems; high-level C-like languages; high-level design; high-level design languages; low-level development methods; netlists; software engineers; software programmable multiprocessor architecture;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Electronics & Communication Engineering Journal
Publisher :
iet
ISSN :
0954-0695
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1049/ecej:20020404
Filename :
1029474
Link To Document :
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