Abstract: The EDA integrated development environment is the electronic system development necessary tool and the method. This article according to present EDA tool software and the suite structure and the electronic system’s development need, proposed that three different type’s model EDA integrated development environment portal frame construction - - board levels, the chip level and the synthesis electron system EDA integrated development environment portal frame construction, and carries on the description by the graphical representation way.
Key word: Electronic system electron design automation (EDA) integrated development environment (IDE) SoC portal frame construction
Introduction
Electronic system EDA integrated development environment IDE (Integrated Development Environment) refers to the basis electron system design flow, in the design cycle each stage will need the different EDA tool software integration in a hardware platform, carries on the item design development the soft and hard working conditions. In this environment, the project design feature pasts through the document way between each EDA tool, looks like in the factory in the process line product flowing to be the same, ended until the product manufacturing entire process.
Because each EDA tool developer has the different specialty in the different design link, its EDA tool also has the different characteristic. Some EDA tool behavior descriptive power, not only has algorithm level and the register transmission level behavior design descriptive power, moreover also has the system-level behavior design descriptive power; Some EDA tool’s logic synthesis efficiency is high, takes the resources to be few; Some EDA tool succession simulation is more precise, the design project can work Yu Jiaogao the frequency; Some EDA tool contact surface is friendly, easy to use. Chooses the outstanding EDA tool, constitutes super electronic system EDA the integrated development environment is one of project development engineer’s most important duties. Usually, chooses the outstanding EDA tool to have the following several constraints:①EDA tool’s use authorization limit;②Design language, design feature, design form compatibility;③EDA tool and computer and operating system’s compatible question;④Design project actual need limit.
The different design object, its EDA integrated development environment construction has the very big difference. For example, in the classics board level electron system design, usually is many specific IC (ASIC) chip, the general gate chip design completes together in printed wiring board (PCB) the entire electronic system design, its design basic source material integrated circuit chip; In the modern chip level electron system design, usually is surpasses many soft and hard intellectual property rights (IP) nuclear ‘OR’ circuit module design in one in the scale integrated circuit chip completes the entire electronic system design, its design’s basic source material is may the multiplying IP nuclear ‘OR’ circuit module. Along with the integrated circuit technology’s development, the electronic system design starts to transform gradually from the classics board level system design as the modern chip level system design, therefore the electronic system design engineer’s development work also gradually the electronic system design changes on the piece from the board the system (SoC) design, the design basic component also transfers the multiplying from general IC IP.
This article according to present EDA tool software or the suite structure, needs to embark from the electronic system’s design development, the integrated development environment divides into three types electronic system EDA: Board level electron system EDA integrated development environment, chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment and synthesis electron system EDA integrated development environment, and proposes this three type EDA integrated development environment portal frame construction, so that the electronic system designer can understand and masters the electronic system integration development environment application method as a whole and constructs the method.
1 board level electron system EDA integrated development environment
Typical board level electron system EDA integrated development environment as shown in Figure 1. This type’s integrated development environment usually is integrates the design environment by the board level electron system’s hardware system (i.e. PCB integration design environment) and the software system integration design environment two part constitutions.
Any kind of board level electron system is by the hardware and the software two sub-system compositions, therefore a complete board level electron system integration development environment, besides uses in the hardware system development the EDA integration design environment, but must include the software real-time emulation development debugging environment. Regarding the low end’s micro controller application system, usually is composed of the hardware simulator and the necessary simulation software (see middle Figure 1); Regarding the high-end 32 embedded processor application system, usually is one kind (Real-Time Operating System) the platform (see Figure based on embedded real-time operating system RTOS 1 base).
2 chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment
Chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment, is also one kind of integrated circuit (IC)EDA integrated development environment. In the integrated circuit design, the different design method and the design cycle need the different EDA integrated development environment. According to the design object’s difference, the chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment may divide into on the specific IC (ASIC) integration design environment and the piece the system (SoC) integration design environment. What here must point out specially is SoC and the ASIC concept difference. From electronic circuit’s angle understood that may think: ASIC is one kind has some kind of specific function large scale integrated circuit chip, like VGA imagery processing chip, PCI connection chip, video amplification chip and so on; But SoC was one kind integrated the microprocessor, the memory, the peripheral circuit and the software system procedure from became system’s ultra large scale integrated circuit chip.
(1)ASIC integration design environment
Typical ASIC integration design environment as shown in Figure 2. May obtain by Figure 2, in this integration design environment’s design cycle, may produce five different types the products:①After function confirmation soft IP nucleus;②After logic synthesis confirmation solid IP nucleus,③Programmable specific IC (ASIC) component;④Hard IP nucleus which produces by the ASIC domain;⑤By generation of plant production ASIC chip.
(2)SoC integration design environment
Typical SoC integration design environment as shown in Figure 3. This integrated environment is one kind of typical soft and hard coordination design integration environment (or platform). In this integration design environment design cycle, may also produce five different types the products:①After function confirmation soft IP nucleus;②After logic synthesis confirmation solid IP nucleus,③On programmable piece system (SoPC) component;④Hard IP nucleus which produces by the SoC domain;⑤By generation of plant production SoC chip.
On the piece the system (SoC) design needs EDA tool, if looked from the hardware design angle, is not big in design cycle’s front end design and the ASIC design difference; But, from entire chip design angle embarking, these two type’s chip design has distinguishes greatly. This is because in the SoC design, includes the microprocessor nucleus generally, designs the system-on-a-chip must have the device driver and the operating system or the embedded real-time operating system connection, and has the application procedure to complete functions and so on digital computation, signal processing transformation, control decision-making. Therefore, in the design earlier period, wants the software and hardware coordination design, determined that which functions are complete by the hardware, which software function is completes by the software, needs to carry on a suitable division. In the design mid and late part, must carry on the software and hardware coordination confirmation, namely puts the software and hardware design to a hypothesized integrated environment in carries on the simulation confirmation, with the aim of confirming hardware’s performance whether to achieve the project objective, whether the software function does realize the design requirements.
3 synthesis electron system EDA integrated development environment
Typical synthesis electron system EDA integrated development environment as shown in Figure 4, usually name it complete machine or mixed electron system EDA integrated development environment. This type integrated development environment metasynthesis chip level and the board level electron system design’s EDA tool, might complete the following three aspects to work: Printed wiring board (PCB) design, on specific IC (ASIC) chip design and piece system (SoC) chip design. In this integrated development environment, PCB designs the platform to complete the classics the board level electron system design work, ASIC designs the platform to complete the specific IC chip project work, SoC designs the platform to complete the modern chip level electron system design work, but PLD designs the platform completes programmable ASIC and the SoC chip (including chips and so on CPLD/FPGA, SOPC) the project work.
4 electronic system EDA integrated development environment comparative analysis
Regardless of being the board level electron system EDA integrated development environment, the chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment, cannot respond comprehensively the modern electron system design the actual present situation, namely the existence has the special-purpose chip design question in the board level electron system design, but has the printed wiring board (PCB) design problem in the chip level electron system design. Has this actual problem the primary cause to have the following two aspects:①In board level electron system design, for some kind of special need (for example simplified system logic design, reduces the PCB volume, to raise system’s running rate and reliable and so on), or the special function request (for example special algorithm function, special digital signal processing function and so on), needs to use the special-purpose chip which some users independently design, specially programmable special-purpose chip. Therefore, needs to integrate the chip level electron system design in the board level electron system integration development environment the EDA tool.②In the chip level electron system design, speaking of the present technical aspect, even if is system-on-a-chip (SoC), as a result of the integrated circuit scale and the integrated circuit technology’s limit, impossible to integrate completely the entire actual electronic system circuit in a chip, needs not to be able to integrate in the chip the function realizes with another either the many chips or the component, but synthesizes many chip sets an electronic system to need through PCB, this needs to insert the board level electron system design in the chip level electron system integration environment the EDA tool. Is precisely based on the above reason, in the synthesis electron system integration environment, usually needs to integrate the chip level electron system design in the board level electron system EDA integrated development environment the EDA tool, but inserts the board level electron system design in the chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment the EDA tool, therefore calls it “the synthesis or the mixed electron system EDA integrated development environment”. This kind of synthesis electron system integration development environment, is the present EDA engineering technology one kind of trend of development. Although, superficially, the synthesis electron system integration environment is only the board level electron system EDA integrated development environment and the chip level electron system EDA integrated development environment one kind of combination, but it has the essential difference with the simple combination. This kind of difference stems from EDA in the integrated environment an important concept - - EDA system’s portal frame construction.
The EDA system portal frame construction is a set of foundation electron system integration design environment and uses the EDA tool software’s standard, can come from different EDA manufacturer EDA the tool software to carry on the optimum composition, integrates, in easy to manage under the unified environment, supports between between the duty, the project, project engineer’s intelligence transmission and engineering data sharing. This is the concurrent design work and from the top the design method foundation, is also constructs the electronic system integration design environment or the integration designs the platform the basic standard. At present, the main EDA system has established the portal frame construction, and they follow international computer-aided design portal frame construction organization - - CFI (CAD Framework International) unified technical standard.
