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esl: Definition and Recommended Links

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Electronic System Level (ESL) design and verification is an emerging electronic design methodology that focuses on the higher abstraction level concerns first and foremost. It is defined in the ESL Design and Verification book [1] as: 'the utilization of appropriate abstractions in order to increase comprehension about a system, and to enhance the probability of a successful implementation of functionality in a cost-effective manner.'

The basic premise is to model the behavior of the entire system using a high-level language such as C, C++, or MATLAB. Rapid and correct-by-construction implementation of the system can be automated using EDA and embedded software tools, although much of it is performed manually today. ESL can also be accomplished through the use of SystemC as an abstract modeling language.

Electronic System Level is now an established approach at most of the world’s leading System-on-a-chip (SoC) design companies, and is being used increasingly in system design. From its genesis as an algorithm modeling methodology with ‘no links to implementation’, ESL is evolving into a set of complementary methodologies that enable embedded system design, verification, and debugging through to the hardware and software implementation of custom SoC, system-on-FPGA, system-on-board, and entire multi-board systems.

Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_system_level)

other great electronics sites:ee toolbox site

• • esl
    • Electronic System Level (ESL) design and verification is an emerging electronic design methodology that focuses on the higher abstraction level concerns first and foremost. It is defined in the ESL Design and Verification book [1] as: 'the utilization of appropriate abstractions in order to increase comprehension about a system, and to enhance the probability of a successful implementation of functionality in a cost-effective manner.'

      The basic premise is to model the behavior of the entire system using a high-level language such as C, C++, or MATLAB. Rapid and correct-by-construction implementation of the system can be automated using EDA and embedded software tools, although much of it is performed manually today. ESL can also be accomplished through the use of SystemC as an abstract modeling language.

      Electronic System Level is now an established approach at most of the world’s leading System-on-a-chip (SoC) design companies, and is being used increasingly in system design. From its genesis as an algorithm modeling methodology with ‘no links to implementation’, ESL is evolving into a set of complementary methodologies that enable embedded system design, verification, and debugging through to the hardware and software implementation of custom SoC, system-on-FPGA, system-on-board, and entire multi-board systems.

      Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_system_level)

      (Note: The Electronic Engineers Toolbox provides an alternative set of featured links for this word at http://www.cera2.com/esl.htm)

      Featured Links:

      GreenSocs - Open Source SystemC Infrastructure

      The GreenSocs® mission is to enable the ESL community to quickly develop models and tools that can be used together with independence of vendor (whether the vendor is of models or tools). GreenSocs is the forum in which agreed ways of using ESL languages and the details of the interfaces between models, tools and the environment are determined. GreenSocs makes the results available publicly. On top of the underlying languages and the...
      http://www.greensocs.com/

      Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI)

      The Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) is a collaborative effort among a broad range of companies to support and advance SystemC as a de facto standard for system-level design. OSCI is comprised of a community and a steering group. The community consists of a large and growing number of system houses, semiconductor companies, IP providers, embedded software companies and EDA tool vendors.
      http://www.systemc.org/

      Need help designing that high-speed serial design?

      Today's high-speed serial standards require jitter measurements, interconnect characterization, and quality probing to characterize your design. Consult our wide range of application notes, application seminars, product demos, and more. Click here to learn more about your design through better measurements!
      http://ad.doubleclick.net

      CoFluent Design Announces World’s First Eclipse-based Graphical ESL Modeling And Simulation...

      CoFluent Design, an electronic system level (ESL) company that delivers model-based software solutions for early system architecture exploration and performance analysis, has announced version 3.0 of CoFluent Studio, the world-first ESL graphical modeling and simulation framework built on Eclipse technologies. CoFluent Studio V3 leverages the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) and the Ecore standard to define its meta-model format, the...
      http://www.cofluentdesign.com/communique0001036d.html

      Frank Schirrmeister Blog - A View from The Top

      Frank Schirrmeister is a 'guru' of ESL, and this is his Synopsys webpage and blog. If you are interested in SystemC, SystemVerilog, and/or ESL - it's a great place to begin.
      http://www.synopsysoc.org/viewfromtop/

      Agilent Technologies' New Electronic System-Level EDA Platform Helps Algorithm Developers

      Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced SystemVue 2008, a new electronic design automation (EDA) platform for electronic system-level (ESL) design. The new platform cuts physical layer (PHY) design time in half for high-performance communications algorithms and system architectures, for both wireless and aerospace/defense applications. The new SystemVue 2008 platform goes beyond previous Agilent EDA offerings for system-level...
      http://www.agilent.com/about/newsroom/presrel/2008/15sep-em08141.html

      New, Free White Paper: ESL Tools from VDC Corporation

      New research paper from VDC on ESL and ESL deployments worldwide.
      http://www.vdc-corp.com

      Designing the Right SoC Architecture: ESL Performance Analysis for ARM AXI-based Platforms

      Today's multi-mode, multi-application systems place demanding performance requirements on the global resources of the SoC. Estimating bandwidth with spreadsheets is not viable, when dynamic workloads make it impossible to predict performance across all configurations of the interconnect and memory subsystem. Real simulation and performance measurement are needed to optimize results and avoid over-design. In this presentation CoWare ESL 2.0...
      http://www.techonline.com/learning/livewebinar/210602221

      ESL Explained

      Design and Simulation Behavioral Synthesis Test and Verification The Necessity of ESL Challenges with ESL The Bigger Picture ESL is another acronym flooding inboxes these days. What does this term mean and how does it apply to engineers and scientists? Generally, electronic system level (ESL) design and verification provides tools and methodologies you can use to describe and analyze chips on a high level of abstraction. The...
      http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/pub/p/id/142

      Xilinx XtremeDSP Solution Development Tools Deliver New Levels of DSP and ESL Design Capabilities

      Xilinx, Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX), the world's leading provider of programmable solutions, today announced the availability of versions 10.1 of the System Generator for DSP tool and the AccelDSP(TM) synthesis tool, the industry-leading development environment delivered by the Xilinx XtremeDSP(TM) solution. With support for the new Virtex(R)-5 FXT platform, the newest release delivers the industry's first ESL design methodology to enable a direct...
      http://press.xilinx.com

      Explanation: these links are provided as part of our EE glossary project, which seeks to identify the most prominent keywords in embedded systems, embedded software, realtime and rtos, dsp (digital signal processing), system-on-a-chip, microprocessors and microcontrollers, and other constituent elements for embedded systems. While we seek to keep most of the links up-to-date, the user is refered to other primary electronic-based search sites such as: cera2.com, embedded.com, or EDN Magazine. If you have any suggestions of links or definitions, please email!

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