SystemC-A modeling of an automotive seating vibration isolation system

A modeling methodology for mixed physical domains system in a new modelling Language is presented. The system is automotive seating vibration isolation system with electronic control. It is described and simulated in SystemCA, an extended version of SystemC which provides analogue, mixed-signal and mixed-domain modeling capabilities. Results show that SystemC-A provides efficient means to model and investigate performance of complex mixed-domain systems for automotive applications

Co-simulation techniques based on virtual platforms for SoC design and verification in power electronics applications

En las últimas décadas, la inversión en el ámbito energético ha aumentado considerablemente. Actualmente, existen numerosas empresas que están desarrollando equipos como convertidores de potencia o máquinas eléctricas con sistemas de control de última generación. La tendencia actual es usar System-on-chips y Field Programmable Gate Arrays para implementar todo el sistema de control. Estos dispositivos facilitan el uso de algoritmos de control más complejos y eficientes, mejorando la eficiencia de los equipos y habilitando la integración de los sistemas renovables en la red eléctrica. Sin embargo, la complejidad de los sistemas de control también ha aumentado considerablemente y con ello la dificultad de su verificación. Los sistemas Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) se han presentado como una solución para la verificación no destructiva de los equipos energéticos, evitando accidentes y pruebas de alto coste en bancos de ensayo. Los sistemas HIL simulan en tiempo real el comportamiento de la planta de potencia y su interfaz para realizar las pruebas con la placa de control en un entorno seguro. Esta tesis se centra en mejorar el proceso de verificación de los sistemas de control en aplicaciones de electrónica potencia. La contribución general es proporcionar una alternativa a al uso de los HIL para la verificación del hardware/software de la tarjeta de control. La alternativa se basa en la técnica de Software-in-the-loop (SIL) y trata de superar o abordar las limitaciones encontradas hasta la fecha en el SIL. Para mejorar las cualidades de SIL se ha desarrollado una herramienta software denominada COSIL que permite co-simular la implementación e integración final del sistema de control, sea software (CPU), hardware (FPGA) o una mezcla de software y hardware, al mismo tiempo que su interacción con la planta de potencia. Dicha plataforma puede trabajar en múltiples niveles de abstracción e incluye soporte para realizar co-simulación mixtas en distintos lenguajes como C o VHDL. A lo largo de la tesis se hace hincapié en mejorar una de las limitaciones de SIL, su baja velocidad de simulación. Se proponen diferentes soluciones como el uso de emuladores software, distintos niveles de abstracción del software y hardware, o relojes locales en los módulos de la FPGA. En especial se aporta un mecanismo de sincronizaron externa para el emulador software QEMU habilitando su emulación multi-core. Esta aportación habilita el uso de QEMU en plataformas virtuales de co-simulacion como COSIL. Toda la plataforma COSIL, incluido el uso de QEMU, se ha analizado bajo diferentes tipos de aplicaciones y bajo un proyecto industrial real. Su uso ha sido crítico para desarrollar y verificar el software y hardware del sistema de control de un convertidor de 400 kVA

Bridging MoCs in SystemC specifications of heterogeneous systems

In order to get an efficient specification and simulation of a heterogeneous system, the choice of an appropriate model of computation (MoC) for each system part is essential. The choice depends on the design domain (e.g., analogue or digital), and the suitable abstraction level used to specify and analyse the aspects considered to be important in each system part. In practice, MoC choice is implicitly made by selecting a suitable language and a simulation tool for each system part. This approach requires the connection of different languages and simulation tools when the specification and simulation of the system are considered as a whole. SystemC is able to support a more unified specification methodology and simulation environment for heterogeneous system, since it is extensible by libraries that support additional MoCs. A major requisite of these libraries is to provide means to connect system parts which are specified using different MoCs. However, these connection means usually do not provide enough flexibility to select and tune the right conversion semantic in amixed-level specification, simulation, and refinement process. In this article, converter channels, a flexible approach for MoC connection within a SystemC environment consisting of three extensions, namely, SystemC-AMS, HetSC, and OSSS+R, are presented.This work is supported by the FP6-2005-IST-5 European project

A Problem-Oriented Approach for Dynamic Verification of Heterogeneous Embedded Systems

This work presents a virtual prototyping methodology for the design and verification of industrial devices in the field level of industrial automation systems. This work demonstrates that virtual prototypes can help increase the confidence in the correctness of a design thanks to a deeper understanding of the complex interactions between hardware, software, analog and mixed-signal components of embedded systems and the physical processes they interact with

Principes et réalisation d'une interface de synchronisation interopérable entre modèles de calcul SystemC AMS pour le prototypage virtuel optimisé de systèmes multi-disciplines

The design of embedded systems is currently an increasingly complex problem. These systems tend to become heterogeneous in the sense that they require the integration of components described by means of different physical/engineering disciplines, for example, electrical, optical, thermal, mechanical, chemical, or biological. Besides, these disciplines can be described under different time domains, for example, Discrete Event (DE), Discrete Time (DT), or Continuous Time (CT). To address this problem, designers require modeling and simulation tools to describe the system’s components under different time domains and synchronize them in the same simulation environment. We explore the possibilities of modeling, simulating and synchronizing multi-disciplinary systems in the same environment, using as reference the SystemC Analog/Mixed-Signal (AMS) simulation standard. We analyze the method introduced in SystemC AMS for synchronizing the DE and DT domains, and we identify its drawbacks. Besides, we introduce a new formalization of the synchronization problem, which is used to detect issues in a model before simulation. We propose a simulator prototype called SystemC Multi-Disciplinary Virtual Prototyping (MDVP), which is implemented as an extension of SystemC. It allows the modeling, and the generic hierarchical elaboration and simulation of multi-disciplinary systems, by means of different Models of Computation (MoCs). To build the MDVP simulator, we introduce a synchronization principle to handle interactions between MoCs. In addition, we introduce a methodology to add, in the simulator prototype, MoCs described under different time domains. We apply this methodology to add a Timed Data Flow MoC in SystemC MDVP. This MoC implements the DT semantics introduced by the SystemC AMS standard, and is based on the synchronization principle between the DE and DT domains. Using the TDF MoC, we implement and simulate a case study of a vibration sensor model and its digital front end circuit. This case study includes a feedback loop and several interactions between the DE and DT domains.La conception de systèmes embarqués devient de plus en plus complexe. Ces systèmes sont hétérogènes dans le sens où ils nécessitent l’intégration de composants décrits au moyen de plusieurs disciplines scientifiques, par exemple, l’électricité, l’optique, la thermique, la mécanique, la chimie ou la biologie. De plus, ces disciplines peuvent être représentées dans des domaines temporels différents, par exemple, le domaine des événements discrets, celui du temps discret, ou celui du temps continu. Face à cette situation, les concepteurs ont besoin d’outils de modélisation et de simulation efficaces pour décrire le comportement d’un système hétérogène dans un environnement de simulation unique. Nous examinons la possibilité de modéliser, de simuler et de synchroniser les systèmes multi-disciplines dans le même environnement, en utilisant comme référence la norme de simulation « SystemC Analog/Mixed-Signal (AMS) ». Nous analysons la méthode introduite par SystemC AMS pour synchroniser le domaine des événements discrets avec celui du temps discret, et nous identifions ses inconvénients. Nous proposons une formalisation du problème de synchronisation qui permet de détecter les problèmes existants dans un modèle avant la simulation. Nous proposons un prototype de simulateur appelé « SystemC Multi-Disciplinary Virtual Prototyping (MDVP) », qui est implémenté comme une extension de SystemC. Il permet la modélisation, l’élaboration, et la simulation hiérarchique de systèmes multi-disciplines au moyen de plusieurs modèles de calcul. Pour concevoir le simulateur MDVP, nous introduisons un nouveau principe de synchronisation entre plusieurs modèles de calcul. En outre, nous introduisons une méthodologie pour ajouter, dans le prototype de simulateur, des modèles de calcul représentés par plusieurs domaines temporels. Nous appliquons cette méthodologie pour ajouter un modèle de calcul « Timed Data Flow (TDF) » dans SystemC MDVP. Ce modèle de calcul repose sur la sémantique du temps discret introduite par SystemC AMS, et sur la formalisation du principe de synchronisation entre le domaine des événements discrets et celui du temps discret. Nous mettons en œuvre le modèle de calcul TDF, dans le cas d’un capteur de vibrations et son circuit numérique. Ce modèle comporte une boucle d’asservissement et plusieurs interactions entre le domaine des événements discrets et celui du temps discret

Methoden und Beschreibungssprachen zur Modellierung und Verifikation vonSchaltungen und Systemen: MBMV 2015 - Tagungsband, Chemnitz, 03. - 04. März 2015

Der Workshop Methoden und Beschreibungssprachen zur Modellierung und Verifikation von Schaltungen und Systemen (MBMV 2015) findet nun schon zum 18. mal statt. Ausrichter sind in diesem Jahr die Professur Schaltkreis- und Systementwurf der Technischen Universität Chemnitz und das Steinbeis-Forschungszentrum Systementwurf und Test. Der Workshop hat es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, neueste Trends, Ergebnisse und aktuelle Probleme auf dem Gebiet der Methoden zur Modellierung und Verifikation sowie der Beschreibungssprachen digitaler, analoger und Mixed-Signal-Schaltungen zu diskutieren. Er soll somit ein Forum zum Ideenaustausch sein. Weiterhin bietet der Workshop eine Plattform für den Austausch zwischen Forschung und Industrie sowie zur Pflege bestehender und zur Knüpfung neuer Kontakte. Jungen Wissenschaftlern erlaubt er, ihre Ideen und Ansätze einem breiten Publikum aus Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft zu präsentieren und im Rahmen der Veranstaltung auch fundiert zu diskutieren. Sein langjähriges Bestehen hat ihn zu einer festen Größe in vielen Veranstaltungskalendern gemacht. Traditionell sind auch die Treffen der ITGFachgruppen an den Workshop angegliedert. In diesem Jahr nutzen zwei im Rahmen der InnoProfile-Transfer-Initiative durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung geförderte Projekte den Workshop, um in zwei eigenen Tracks ihre Forschungsergebnisse einem breiten Publikum zu präsentieren. Vertreter der Projekte Generische Plattform für Systemzuverlässigkeit und Verifikation (GPZV) und GINKO - Generische Infrastruktur zur nahtlosen energetischen Kopplung von Elektrofahrzeugen stellen Teile ihrer gegenwärtigen Arbeiten vor. Dies bereichert denWorkshop durch zusätzliche Themenschwerpunkte und bietet eine wertvolle Ergänzung zu den Beiträgen der Autoren. [... aus dem Vorwort

High-Speed Performance, Power and Thermal Co-simulation For SoC Design

This dissertation presents a multi-faceted effort at developing standard System Design Language based tools that allow designers to the model power and thermal behavior of SoCs, including heterogeneous SoCs that include non-digital components. The research contributions made in this dissertation include: • SystemC-based power/performance co-simulation for the Intel XScale microprocessor. We performed detailed characterization of the power dissipation patterns of a variety of system components and used these results to build detailed power models, including a highly accurate, validated instruction-level power model of the XScale processor. We also proposed a scalable, efficient and validated methodology for incorporating fast, accurate power modeling capabilities into system description languages such as SystemC. This was validated against physical measurements of hardware power dissipation. • Modeling the behavior of non-digital SoC components within standard System Design Languages. We presented an approach for modeling the functionality, performance, power, and thermal behavior of a complex class of non-digital components — MEMS microhotplate-based gas sensors — within a SystemC design framework. The components modeled include both digital components (such as microprocessors, busses and memory) and MEMS devices comprising a gas sensor SoC. The first SystemC models of a MEMS-based SoC and the first SystemC models of MEMS thermal behavior were described. Techniques for significantly improving simulation speed were proposed, and their impact quantified. • Vertically Integrated Execution-Driven Power, Performance and Thermal Co-Simulation For SoCs. We adapted the above techniques and used numerical methods to model the system of differential equations that governs on-chip thermal diffusion. This allows a single high-speed simulation to span performance, power and thermal modeling of a design. It also allows feedback behaviors, such as the impact of temperature on power dissipation or performance, to be modeled seamlessly. We validated the thermal equation-solving engine on test layouts against detailed low-level tools, and illustrated the power of such a strategy by demonstrating a series of studies that designers can perform using such tools. We also assessed how simulation and accuracy are impacted by spatial and temporal resolution used for thermal modeling

On the Verification of a WiMax Design Using Symbolic Simulation

The system-On-Chip design process is continuously increasing in terms of cost and complexity. This imposes new modeling and verification challenges. A particular example is heavy computational applications and functionality, such as digital signal processing and telecommunication applications, which are increasingly integrated in embedded systems nowadays. To meet these challenges, designers use a multilevel model based approach, which is a top-down design methodology where the behavior of the system is first modeled at a higher level of abstraction. Then, design decisions are made to refine those models in a number of transformations until the final product is realized. In this thesis we verify an implementation of a WiMax modem physical layer that has been designed according to the multilevel design approach. This implementation is provided by STMicroelectronics. We propose the utilization of two verification methodologies to verify designs at higher levels of abstraction. The first one is an equivalence checking methodology that is based on symbolic simulation, which provides high speed and computational capabilities. The main purpose of this methodology is to verify the functional equivalence of refined system models in the design process. The second methodology is a property checking approach, which is also based on symbolic simulation. It verifies the conformance of models at different levels of abstraction with the system specification. We verified the equivalence of three models of the WiMax system at different levels of abstraction, and we verified the correctness of various system properties on those models