We introduce two properties of the design process called the arbitrary composability and the linear effort properties. We argue that a design paradigm, which has these two properties is scalable and has the potential to keep up with the pace of technology advances. Then we discuss some of the trends that will enforce significant changes on current design methodologies and techniques. Finally, w...

The Network-on-Chip (NoC) paradigm brings networks inside chips. We use the routing capabilities inside NoC to serve as a replacement for Virtual Method Table (VMT) for Object-Oriented (OO) designed hardware/software co-design systems where some methods could be implemented as hardware modules. This eliminates VMT area and performance overhead in OO co-designed embedded systems where resources ...

Power and performance play a significant role since the size of technology to build modern digital systems are reduced. Therefore, in designing these systems, all of the designing features shall somehow acquire their confirmation from the standpoint of these two parameters. One of the important features is communication. Communication portion in the power consumption of System on Chip can be up...

In this article we present test and verification challenges for system chips that utilize on-chip networks. These SOCs and networks on a chip are introduced, where the NOC is exemplified by Philips’ ÆTHEREAL NOC architecture. We discuss existing test and verification methods for SOCs and NOCs, and show the particular advantages of using an NOC for both testing and verifying the network, and tes...

In this article we present test and verification challenges for system chips that utilise on-chip networks. These systems on a chip (SOCs) and networks on a chip (NOCs) are introduced, where the NOC is exemplified by Philips’s ÆTHEREAL NOC architecture. We discuss existing test and verification methods for SOCs and NOCs, and show the particular advantages of using a NOC both for testing and ver...

We present a functional approach, based on the ACL2 logic, for the specification of system on a chip communication architectures. Our decomposition of the communications allows the method to be modular for both system definition and validation. When performed in the context of the ACL2 logic, all the definitions and theorems are not only reusable, but also constitute an executable and proven va...

Advanced CMOS technology possibilities, power, communication and flexibility issues as well as the design gap are directing System-on-Chip (SoC) platforms towards Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnected identical processing tiles (PT) such as the Montium processor [1]. It is broadly acknowledged that advanced technologies below 45nm come with significant yield and reliability problems, necessitati...

In traditional System-on-Chip design it is possible to know in advance the actual communication requirements, the application needs and all the components (modules) needed to realize the desired architecture. They can be understood a priori, at synthesis-time by the analysis of the application specification. For this reason, once all the components of the system have been defined, they will rem...

Application models are often disregarded during the design of multiprocessor Systems-on-Chip (MPSoC). This is due to the difficulties of capturing the application constraints and applying them to the design space exploration of the platform. In this article we propose an application modelling formalism that supports joint validation of application and platform models. To support designers on th...