Bridging Algorithm and ESL Design: MATLAB/Simulink Model Transformation and Validation

Abstract

AbstractMATLAB/Simulink is today’s de-facto standard for model-based design in domains such as control engineering and signal processing. Particular strengths of Simulink are rapid design and algorithm exploration. Moreover, commercial tools are available to generate embedded C or HDL code directly from a Simulink model. On the other hand, Simulink models are purely functional models and, hence,designers cannot seamlessly consider the architecture that a Simulink model is later implemented on. In particular, it is not possible to explore the different architectural alternatives and investigate the arising interactions and side-effects directly within Simulink. To benefit from MATLAB/Simulink’s algorithm exploration capabilities and overcome the outlined drawbacks, this work introduces a model transformation framework that converts a Simulink model to an executable specification, written in an actor-oriented modeling language. This specification then serves as the input of a well-established Electronic System Level (ESL) design flow, enabling Design Space Exploration (DSE) and automatic code generation for both hardware and software. We also present a validation technique that considers the functional correctness by comparing the original Simulink model with the generated specification in a co-simulation environment. The co-simulation can also be used to evaluate different quality numbers of implementation candidates during DSE. As a case study, we present and investigate a torque vectoring application from an electric automotive vehicle.KeywordsElectronic System Level (ESL)MATLAB/SimulinkModel transformationModel validationDesign Space Exploration (DSE)SystemCModel-Based Design (MBD)Code generationSysteMoCTorque vectoring