A Tool for Performance Evaluation in a Formal Codesign Framework

Hardware-software (HW-SW) codesign is an attempt to integrate hardware and software design techniques. A critical feature of all codesign methods is evaluation of the performance of the system. The best approach is to estimate performance based on the high-level specifications of the system before starting the subsequent partitioning and synthesis phases: these phases waste a large amount of resources, which causes delays in delivering the end product and higher costs. The authors propose an approach to reduce the number of redesign cycles, allowing continuous adjustments of the specification based on results of the performance evaluation before the next steps in the method are taken. To deal with these problems, the authors have developed an HW-SW codesign method that supports the designer from specification to the final implementation of the system. They present a performance analysis tool that operates at the specification level and tracks the input-output behavior of the system.