US 2002/0166110 A1 · Apparatus and method for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator

Abstract

An apparatus and method are provided for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator in a manner that minimizes context switching between at least one model written in a source code language and at least one model written in a hardware description language (HDL). The present invention comprises logic for generating a list of actions to be performed for a given trigger event occurrence and, once the list has been generated, for processing at least some of the listed actions in an source-code-to-HDL-interface domain before performing a context switch from the source-code-to-HDL-interface domain to a source code model domain. The HDL model domain corresponds to execution of the model written in the HDL and the source code model doma in corresponds to execution of the model written in the source code language, and the source-code-to-HDL-interface domain corresponding to execution of source-code-to-HDL-interface code. By listing actions to be performed for a given trigger event occurrence and then processing listed actions before switching contexts, the amount of context switching between the HDL model domain and the source code model domain that occurs during the simulation is minimized, thus reducing processing overhead during simulation.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator, the mixed-language simulator utilizing at least one model written in a source code language and at least one model written in a hardware description language (HDL), said at least one source code model and said at least one HDL model being interfaced by source-code-to-HDL-interface code, the apparatus comprising:

logic for generating a list of actions to be performed for a given trigger event occurrence and for attempting to process at least some of the listed actions in a source-code-to-HDL-interface domain before performing a context switch from the source-code-to-HDL-interface domain to a source code model domain, the HDL model domain corresponding to execution of said at least one model written in the HDL, the source code model domain corresponding to execution of said at least one model written in the source code language, and the source-code-to-HDL-interface domain corresponding to execution of the source-code-to-HDL-interface code, and wherein by generating said list of actions and attempting to perform at least some of the actions before the context switch is performed, an amount of context switching between the HDL model domain and the source code and interface domains performed during simulation is minimized.

A method for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator, the mixed-language simulator utilizing at least one model written in a source code language and at least one model written in a hardware description language (HDL), said at least one model written in the source code language being interfaced with said at least one model written in the HDL by source-code-to-HDL-interface code, the method comprising:

generating a list of actions to be performed for a given trigger event occurrence;
and
attempting to process at least some of the listed actions in a source-code-to-HDL-interface domain before performing a context switch from source-code-to-HDL-interface domain to a source code model domain, the HDL model domain corresponding to execution of said at least one model written in the HDL, the source code model domain corresponding to execution of said at least one model written in the source code language, and the source-code-to-HDL-interface domain corresponding to execution of the source-code-to-HDL-interface code.

determining when a trigger event has occurred;
if a determination is made that a trigger event has occurred, determining a type of trigger event that has occurred;
generating a list of actions to be performed based on the determination made as to the type of trigger event that has occurred;
determining which of the actions in the list are enabled and which of the actions in the list are not enabled;
attempting to process each of the enabled actions;
and
causing a context switch from an source-code-to-HDL-interface domain to a source code model domain to occur once attempts have been made to process each of the enabled actions, wherein when the context switch from the source-code-to-HDL-interface domain to the source code domain occurs, said at least one model written in the source code language is executed.

4 more elements

A computer program for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator, the mixed-language simulator utilizing at least one model written in a source code language and at least one model written in a hardware description language (HDL), the computer program being embodied on a computer readable medium, the computer program comprising:

a first code segment, the first code segment determining when a trigger event has occurred;
a second code segment, the second code segment determining a type of trigger event that has occurred;
a third code segment, the third code segment generating a list of actions to be performed based on the determination made as to the type of trigger event that has occurred;
a fourth code segment, the fourth code segment determining which of the actions in the list are enabled and which of the actions in the list are not enabled;
a fifth code segment, the fifth code segment attempting to process each of the enabled actions;
and
a sixth code segment, the sixth code segment causing a context switch from an HDL model domain to a source code model domain to occur once attempts have been made to process each of the enabled actions, wherein when the context switch from the HDL domain to the source code domain occurs, said at least one model written in the source code language is executed.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Apparatus and method for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator

Life of this patent

Apparatus and method for performing event processing in a mixed-language simulator

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20