SDL/virtual prototype co-design for rapid architectural exploration of a mobile phone platform

Authors:
Shadi Traboulsi;Felix Bruns;Anas Showk;David Szczesny;Sebastian Hessel;Elizabeth Gonzalez;Attila Bilgic
Affiliations:
Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany;Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany;Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany;Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany;Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany;Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany;Institute for Integrated Systems, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Venue:
SDL'09 Proceedings of the 14th international SDL conference on Design for motes and mobiles
Year:
2009

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Abstract

In this paper we present a new hardware/software co-design methodology for embedded systems, where software components written in Specification and Description Language (SDL) execute on a soft-model of a hardware platform, a so called Virtual Prototype (VP). The proposed approach enables fast exploration of difierent hardware and software design options at high level of abstraction in order to make early system design decisions. We prove our approach by considering the Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication stack as a use case for the architectural exploration of our mobile terminal. The open source L4/Fiasco microkernel is deployed as a Real-Time OS to run the modem application represented by the LTE SDL-modelled protocol stack. We profile and analyze the system performance by measuring average and maximum packet processing times under various hardware and software conditions. Thereby, we are able to rapidly obtain an eficient design point that provides 80% packet processing speedup against other unoptimized implementations while meeting the required timing constraints and maintaining a good balance between area and power consumption.