May 9, 2016 1

Solutions for Hardware/Software

co-design

Zvika RozensheinEngineeringIQ

May 9, 2016 2

Introduction/Embedded Systems

• Uses a computer to perform certain functions • Conceived with specific application in mind

• examples: dash controller in automobiles, remote controller for robots, answering machines, etc.

• IoT, Control type of applications• Design consists of hardware components and

software programs that execute on the hardware platforms.

• Hardware-Software Co-Design ?

May 9, 2016 3

Why Co-Design?

• Reduce time to market• Achieve better design

• Explore alternative designs• Good design can be found by balancing the HW/SW

• To meet strict design constraint• power, size, timing, and performance trade-offs• safety and reliability• system on chip

May 9, 2016 4

Concurrent designTraditional design

HW SW

start

Designed by independent groups of experts

Concurrent (Co-Design)

start

HW SW

Designed by Same group of experts with cooperation

May 9, 2016 5

Basic Design Systems• Must-have components:

– Schematic entry– Spice simulation for passive and active components– Most systems also include PCB design capabilities

• Popular products:

May 9, 2016 6

Common CapabilitiesSchematic Capture Measurement & Analysis

Digital LogicBasic Electricity

Analog Electronics

Simulation

Connectivity

3D Models

PCB Layout Visualization & MCAD

PCB DesignConstraint Driven LayoutDesign for ManufactureEnd-to-End Engineering

May 9, 2016 7

What about Embedded? Schematic Capture Measurement & Analysis

Simulation

Connectivity

3D Models

PCB Layout Visualization & MCADTraditional SPICE Simulators don’t

support micro-controllers !

May 9, 2016 8

Possible Solutions

• Use a Bus Functional Model (BFM) of the MCU– Encapsulates the bus functionality of a processor

• Can execute bus transactions on the processor bus (cycle accurate)• Cannot execute any instructions

– BFM is an abstract model of processor that can be used to verify how a processor interacts with its peripherals

SWSW HWHWHWSWC/C++ BFM

May 9, 2016 9

Possible Solutions

• Use an Instruction-Set Simulator (ISS)– Processor model capable of simulating the execution of

instructions– Different types of ISS for different purposes

• Usage 1: Verification of applications written in assembly-code– For fastest speed: translate target assembly instructions into host processor

instructions» Is not cycle-accurate. Specially for pipelined and superscalar

architectures

May 9, 2016 10

Possible Solutions

• Use an Instruction-Set Simulator (ISS)– Usage 2: Verification of timing and interface between

system components• Used in conjunction with a BFM• ISS should be timing-accurate in this usage

– ISS often works as an emulator– For performance estimation usage, ISS is to provide accurate

cycle-counting

May 9, 2016 11

Possible Solutions• What is a Carbon Model?

– A high performance software object– Generated by proprietary compiler

from synthesizable RTL design files– Contains cycle-accurate & register-

accurate description of hardware design

• Using a Carbon Model– Linked with gcc (or Microsoft VC++)– Libcarbon5.so & carbon_capi.h are part of

installation on Linux– Simulator communicates with hardware

model through sockets using carbon_capi.h

• However – execution speed is a major problem!

May 9, 2016 12

Proteus VSM is the AnswerSchematic with MCU Firmware Design

Measurement & Analysis Debugging & Diagnostics

Mixed Mode ProSPICE Simulation

May 9, 2016 13

+ Strong PCB Design Capability

10-15 db Gain, ~4k Cut-off Frequency

To analyze the circuit we’ll want to : Provide an input signal. Plot the output waveform. Change component values to tune the filter.

Simple Filter Breakout Board

May 9, 2016 14

Supported MCU Families

Freescale MC68HC11 family.

Atmel® ATTINY, ATMEGA and Cortex™-M3 families. Includes full Arduino support !

NXP ARM® LPC2000 family, ARM7TDMI, Cortex™-M0 and Cortex™-M3 models.

Microchip Technologies™ PIC10, PIC12, PIC16, PIC18, PIC24 & dsPIC33 families.

Generic 8051, 8052, NXP (P87C51xxx) and Atmel® (AT89Cxxx) families.

Proteus VSM Supports:

Texas Instruments™ MSP430® Family, Cortex™-M3/LM3S and PICCOLO™ TMS320.

May 9, 2016 15

Microcontroller ModelsProteus VSM Microcontroller Models:

Instruction Set Simulated All pin and I/O operations

All Timers in all modes UART/USART/EUSART

Interrupts and priorities (inc. VIC)

SPI / SSI in all modes

PSP or PMP in all modes MSSP in all modes

ADC inc. Voltage Ref. pins CCP/ECCP in all modes

I2C/TWI as master/slave Analog Comparator in all modes

External Memory Real Time Clock in all modes

Memory Accelerator Module PWM Module in all modes USB Device module CTMU, CLC, PPS and others.

May 9, 2016 16

The Peripheral Models Thousands of TTL, CMOS,

passives etc. Interactive models for POTs, switches, ...

Ethernet Controller Models OptoElectronic Models (LED, LCD, TFT, …)

Motor Control Models Memory Models

Temperature Control Models Real Time Clocks and Timekeeping

I2C / SPI Protocol peripherals 1-Wire Protocol peripheral models

RS232/RS485/RS422 Protocol ADC / DAC Converter Models

Pulse Width Control Models Power Management Models

Laplace Primitive Models Many, Many more…

May 9, 2016 17

Examples (1)Arduino AVR writing bitmap to TFT Display

May 9, 2016 18

Examples (2)

May 9, 2016 19

Examples (3)

May 9, 2016 20

Visual Designer Module – Firmware design with Flow-Chart!

Example - PIR Night Light

10uF1k

A2 21

43

Grove Luminance Sensor

2,3

1

APDS-9002

Grove LED

LED-GREEN

330

D3 21

43 A0 2

1

43 21.0

VO1 VCC3

GND2

GP2Y0A21YK0F

Grove Infrared Proximity Sensor

May 9, 2016 21

Example - TFT Display & SD Card

IM0IM1IM2IM3

RESCS

WR/D/CRD

TE

SDI/SDASDO

HSYNCVSYNCDOTCLK

DE

EXTC

D0D1D2D3D4D5D6D7D8D9D10D11D12D13D14D15D16D17

D/C/SCL

LEDKLEDA

LCD1

ILI9341

IO9

IO10SCK

MOSIMISO

IL9341 TFT Display

SD

Card

CS

DIDOCLK

SD1

SD

SCKMISOMOSI

IO4

SD Card

May 9, 2016 22

References

Dr. Rabi Mahapatra - Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M.

Labcenter Electronics Ltd:• www.labcenter.com• sales@labcenter.com

EngineeringIQ Israel – עצה הנדסית• Zvika Rozenshein צביקה רוזנשיין• www.eng-iq.com• support@eng-iq.com• (M) +972-52-6132275