CAREER: Result-Oriented System-Level Modeling for Efficient Design of Embedded Systems

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

Result-Oriented System-Level Modeling for Efficient Design of Embedded Systems Rainer Doemer, University of California, Irvine We are surrounded by embedded computing systems, ranging from video-enabled mobile phones over real-time automotive applications to reliable medical devices. Just as the quality of an architectural blue-print determines the quality of the resulting building, the model of an embedded system is the key to its successful implementation. This project moves research and education on embedded system design forward in the area of system-level specification and modeling. While traditional work largely has focused on simulation and synthesis from a given system model, this project addresses the creation and optimization of system models for effective use in existing design processes. The results of this project are directly applicable to established system design flows in industry and fit well into existing and new courses in computer engineering education. This project optimizes the modeling of embedded systems by use of four novel techniques. First, it advances a new model of computation, named ConcurrenC, which refines the generic capabilities of common C-based system-level description languages. Second, the creation of the system model is automated by computer-aided re-coding that derives an executable model directly from reference code. Third, the efficiency of the model is optimized using Result-Oriented Modeling (ROM), which, in contrast to traditional Transaction-Level Modeling (TLM), offers gains in simulation speed of multiple orders of magnitude and highest accuracy at the same time. Fourth, this project investigates TLM of computation, an area where it has not been applied before.