Scalable reconfigurable prototyping system and method
AssigneeS2C Inc.
InventorsThomas B. Huang, Mon-Ren Chene
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and a system provide a reconfigurable platform for designing and emulating a user design. The method and system facilitates design and emulation of a system-on-a-chip type user design. The netlist of a user design may be included with netlists from customized or optimized third party circuits in an emulation using a platform including a number of field programmable devices. Various customized circuits for specific development activities, such as debugging, performance analysis, and simulator linkage may be configured to interact with the user design.
Claims63
A system for designing and emulating a user design, comprising:
- (i) a system controller comprising:
- (a) an interface to a user workstation;
- and
- (b) a data communication interface;
- and
- (ii) an emulation platform coupled to the data communication interface, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of field programmable logic devices for implementing the user design and third-party IP cores, wherein each programmable logic device is assigned for implementation an interface module through which a portion of the user design assigned to the programmable logic device communicates with portions of the user design assigned to other programmable logic devices;
- and
- (b) an interface to a target system with which the user design interacts at run time.
A method for emulating a user design, comprising:
- (i) providing a system controller comprising:
- (a) an interface to a user workstation;
- and
- (b) a data communication interface;
- (ii) providing an emulation platform coupled to the data communication interface, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of field programmable logic devices for implementing the user design;
- and
- (b) an interface to a target system with which the user design interacts at run time;
- (iii) generating a top-level module including the user design and one or more third party IP cores;
- (iv) synthesizing the user design;
- partitioning the user design and the third party IP cores into partitions each suitable for implementing in one of the programmable logic devices;
- (v) assigning to each programmable logic device an interface module through which the partition to be implemented in that programmable logic device is allowed communicate with other partitions in other programmable logic devices;
- (vi) placing and routing the partitions and the interface modules;
- and
- (vii) implementing the placed and routed partitions in the programmable logic devices.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.