Using VHDL for HW/SW co-specification

Abstract

HW/SW (hardware/software) co-specification and co-design require a medium for HW/SW implementation independent description as well as for integration of hardware and software. Since not all design steps can be performed automatically, this medium must be capable of representing results of intermediate design steps from both CAD tools and human interaction. VHDL is widely accepted in HW design where it is mostly used at the RT level. VHDL implementations of abstract data and control structures which support clock independent communication and synchronization allow one to extend VHDL toward system level and HW/SW co-design.<>