A System Simulation Framework

Abstract for presentation submitted to EDP 2000 Workshop
(http://www.eda.org/edps/edp00.html)

by Peter van den Hamer
Philips Research Laboratories Eindhoven

A system design framework is presented which has been developed by
Philips Research in collaboration with Delft University. The framework
has been used in a range of industrial design applications including
system-level VLSI design. It is specifically targeted at the design of
complex systems and of products which must be evaluated or optimized
from a wide range of perspectives.

When designing complex systems, designers are often confronted with
multi-step design processes and associated networks of interdependent
design tools. Our framework provides support in managing these design
tools and keeping track of the numerous design files. With increasing
system complexity, it is also important to maintain an overview of how
the product?s performance (e.g.  performance benchmarks, die size,
power consumption) depends on key design parameters. Because the total
system model can consist of components from different sources or use
different technologies (e.g. VLSI plus software) the total system
behavior can become hard to analyze for any individual designer. Our
framework supports teams of designers at both the design file and
design tool level, as well as at the system model and design parameter
level.

The design file and design tool level is comparable to current
commercial design data management solutions, but attempts to capture
additional information about what the design files represent rather
than just managing the evolution of individual files. This extra
information enables functionality like data traceability
(e.g. identifying all available simulation results for a given design
version), distinguishing between design alternatives and effectively
browsing the design base. This level of functionality calls for a
tight coupling between the management of design data and the design
processes (or flows) which one is trying to support.

The system model and design parameter level is an attempt to bridge
the gap between the basic design chores which designers need to
perform (finding the right file, editing a design, running tools) and
the design goals which the designers are actually trying to
reach. Such goals include tuning key design parameters, optimizing
performance indicators or evaluating the tradeoffs between competing
requirements. Unlike mathematical programming environments, which
allow the user to evaluate, display and optimize mathematical
functions, our system design environments are typically networks of
heterogeneous tools or models from different sources which together
represent the ?full? system behavior. Other characteristic services
generate, evaluate and visualize potential design alternatives.  This
helps the designer perform tradeoff optimization between conflicting
design goals when there is no cost function available which defines
the relative importance of the individual design goals.

We have attempted to make the creation of custom design environments
as flexible as possible. This allows the framework to support
different design technologies and different methodologies. Our
framework has been applied in applications ranging from the design of
media processors, the optimization of a manufacturing process and the
development of Cathode Ray Tube displays. Flexibility and
configurability also allow the design environment to be adapted
whenever the tool suite changes, the design process is modified or
when the underlying product models are refined.

Summarizing, our framework provides a set of software services which
appear to be useful for a wide range of system design problems and
have a high degree of cross-service synergy. We are interested in
feedback about the approach, its applicability and identifying
comparable work.

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Dr.Ir. Peter van den Hamer
Philips Research Laboratories Eindhoven
tel: +31 - 40 - 27 44060
Peter.van.den.Hamer@Philips.com [note new E-mail address]