High-level System Modeling with SystemC and TLM

Traditional methodologies increasingly fail to tackle§the challenge of contemporary embedded system design.§The drive towards shorter product life cycles and§time-to-market necessitates an increase of§productivity. Electronic System Level Design (ESL)§addresses this issue by modeling and abstraction. The§Transaction Level Modeling (TLM) standard, based on§the system modeling language SystemC, is targeted at§the design of fast virtual system prototypes that§allow early hardware/software co-development as well§as architectural and performance exploration. §§This book by the author Christian Widtmann presents§the methodology of ESL design based on transaction§models. It describes the features of SystemC, the§concepts of the thereupon defined modeling standard§and the tools available to the designer. In the§course of a case study the Advanced Encryption§Standard (AES) is refined from its mathematical§description to an architectural model. The presented§design flow includes a number of modeling steps that§illustrate the capabilities of the different modeling§styles. Particular focus is laid on linking§theoretical concepts to their practical implementation.