Electronic system-level design and verification

Electronic system level (ESL) design and verification is an emerging electronic design methodology that focuses on the higher abstraction level concerns first and foremost. The term Electronic System Level or ESL Design was first defined by Gartner Dataquest, a EDA-industry-analysis firm, on February 1, 2001[1]. It is defined in the ESL Design and Verification book [2] as: "the utilization of appropriate abstractions in order to increase comprehension about a system, and to enhance the probability of a successful implementation of functionality in a cost-effective manner."

The basic premise is to model the behavior of the entire system using a high-level language such as C, C++, or MATLAB. Newer languages are emerging that enable the creation of a model at a higher level of abstraction including general purpose system design languages like SysML as well as those that are specific to embedded system design like SMDL and SSDL supported by emerging system design automation products like Teraptor[3]. Rapid and correct-by-construction implementation of the system can be automated using EDA tools such as high-level synthesis and embedded software tools, although much of it is performed manually today. ESL can also be accomplished through the use of SystemC as an abstract modeling language.

Electronic System Level is now an established approach at most of the world’s leading System-on-a-chip (SoC) design companies, and is being used increasingly in system design.[citation needed] From its genesis as an algorithm modeling methodology with ‘no links to implementation’, ESL is evolving into a set of complementary methodologies that enable embedded system design, verification, and debugging through to the hardware and software implementation of custom SoC, system-on-FPGA, system-on-board, and entire multi-board systems.

See also

High-level synthesis
High level verification
Electronic design automation
Integrated circuit design
Register transfer level
Property Specification Language
Virtual Prototyping

References

^ http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-25381633_ITM
^ Brian Bailey, Grant Martin and Andrew Piziali, ESL Design and Verification: A Prescription for Electronic System Level Methodology. Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier, 2007.
^ http://www.sankhya.com/info/products/teraptor/teraptor.html

Further reading

Alice C. Parker, Yosef Tirat-Gefen, Suhrid A. Wadekar (2007). "System-Level Design". In Wai-Kai Chen. The VLSI handbook (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 9780849341991. chapter 76.
Brian Bailey; Grant Martin (2010). ESL Models and Their Application: Electronic System Level Design and Verification in Practice. Springer. ISBN 9781441909640.
Frank Rogin; Rolf Drechsler (2010). Debugging at the Electronic System Level. Springer. ISBN 9789048192540.
Liming Xiu (2007). VLSI circuit design methodology demystified: a conceptual taxonomy. Wiley-IEEE. ISBN 9780470127421.