A high-level virtual platform for early MPSoC software development

Abstract

Multiprocessor System-on-Chips (MPSoCs) are nowadays widely used, but the problem of their software development persists to be one of the biggest challenges for developers. Virtual Platforms (VPs) are introduced to the industry, which allow MPSoC software development without a hardware prototype. Nevertheless, for developers in early design stage where no VP is available, the software programming support is not satisfactory. This paper introduces a High-level Virtual Platform (HVP) which aims at early MPSoC software development. The framework provides a set of tools for abstract MPSoC simulation and the corresponding application programming support in order to enable the development of reusable C code at a high level. The case study performed on several MPSoCs shows that the code developed on the HVP can be easily reused on different target platforms. Moreover, the high simulation speed achieved by the HVP also improves the design efficiency of software developers.