From RTL IP to functional system-level models with extra-functional properties

Abstract

The paper presents a novel abstraction methodology for generating time- and power-annotated TLM models from synthesizable RTL descriptions. The proposed techniques allow the integration of existing RTL IP components into virtual platforms for early software development and platform design, configuration, and exploration. With the proposed approach, IP models can be natively integrated into SystemC TLM-2.0 platforms and executed 10-1000 times faster compared to state-of-the-art RTL simulators. The abstraction methodology guarantees preservation of the behaviour and timing of the RTL models. Target technology dependent power properties of IP components are represented as power state-machines and integrated into the abstracted TLM models. The experimental results show a relative error less than 10\% of the abstracted model's power consumption compared to state-of-the-art RTL power simulators. The evaluation has been performed on RTL IP components with different characteristics and demonstrates the effectiveness of the presented abstraction methodology.