个人作品翻译外文文献 机械自动化类.docx

附录B翻译原文ElectronicdesignautomationKeywordEDA;IC;VHDLlanguage;FPGAPROCESSDESCRIPTION.Threeobstaclesinparticularbedevilicdesignersinthisdawnofthesystemonachip.ThefirstisactuallyaShOrtfan-thehardwareandsoftwarecomponentsofthedesignlackaunifyinglanguage.Then,asthenumberoflogicgatesperchippassesthemillionmarks,verificationofadesig11,scorrectnessisfastbecomingmorearduousthandoingthedesignitself.Andfinally,notonlygatecountsbutchipfrequenciesalsoareclimbing,sothatgettingadesigntomeetitstimingrequirementswithouttoomanydesigniterationsisarecedinggoal.Asisthewontoftheelectronicdesignautomation(EDA)community,theseconcernsarebeingattackedbystart-upcompaniesledbyafewindividualswithbigideasandalittleseedmoney.PARLEZ-VOUSSUPERLOG?Asystemonachipcomprisesbothcircuitryandthesoftwarethatrunsonit.Suchadevicemaycontainanembeddedprocessorcorerunningasoftwaremodem.Mostoften,afterthechip,sfunctionalityisspelledout,usuallyonpaper,thehardwareCOm-potentishandedofftothecircuitdesignersandthesoftwareisgiventothepro-grammars,tomeetupagainatsomelaterdate.Thepartofthechipsfunctionalitythatwillendupaslogicgatesandtransistorsiswrit-teninahardwaredesignIanguage-VirologyorVHDL,whilethepartthatwillendupassoftwareismostoftendescribedintheprogramminglanguageCorC+.Theuseofthesedisparatelanguageshamperstheabilitytodescribe,model,anddebugthecircuitryoftheICandthesoftwareinacoherentfashion.Itistime,manyintheindustrybelieve,foranewdesignlanguagethatcancopewithbothhardwareandsoftwarefromtheinitialdesignspecificationrightthroughtofinalverification.JustsuchanewlanguagehasbeendevelopedbyCo-DesignAutomationInc.,SanJose,Calif.Beforelaunchingsuchanambitiousenterprise,cofoundersSimonDavidmann,whoisalsochiefoperatingofficer,andPeterFlakeruledouttheusefulnessofextendinganexistinglanguagetomeetSyStem-on-chipneeds.AmongthecandidatesforextensionwereC,C+,Java,andVerilog.Adesignlanguageshouldsatisfythreerequirements,maintainedDavidmann.Itshouldunifythedesignprocess.Itshouldmakedesigningmoreefficient.Anditshouldevolveoutofanexistingmethodology.Noneoftheexistingapproachesfilledthebill.SoDavidmannandFlakesetaboutdevelopingnewco-designlanguagecalledSuperlog.AnaturalstartingpointwasablendofVirologyandCsincezzfromanalgorithmpointofview,alotofVirologyisbuiltonC,explainedDavidmann.ThentheyspicedtheblendwithbitsandpiecesofVHDLandJava.FromVirologyandVHDL,Superloghasacquiredtheabilitytodescribehardwareaspectsofthedesign,suchassequential,combinatorial,andmultivaluedlogic.FromCandJavaitinheritsdynamicprocessesandothersoftwareconstructs.Evenfunctionslikeinterfaces,protocols,andstatemachines,whichtillnowhaveoftenbeendoneonpaper,canbedescribedinthenewlanguage.Tosupportlegacycodewritteninahardwaredescriptionorprogramminglanguage,SuperlogallowsbothVirologyandCmodulestobeimportedanduseddirectly.Itisimportantforthelanguagetobeinthepublicdomain,accordingtoDavidmann.Thecompanyhasalreadybeguntoworkwithvariousstandardsorganizationstothisend.Nottobeoverlookedistheneedforasuiteofdesigntoolsbasedonthelanguage.RecentlyCo-Designidentifiedanumberofelectronicdesignautomationcompanies,amongthemMagmaDesignAutomation,Sente,andViewlogic,thatwilldeveloptoolsbasedonSuperlog.Co-Designwillalsodevelopproductsforthefrontendofthedesignprocess.ARACETOTHEFINISHNoteveryoneisconvincedthatanewlanguageisneeded.SystemC,amodelingplatformthatextendsthecapabilitiesandadvantagesofCC+intothehardwaredomainhasbeenproposedasanalternative.SuchlargeandpowerfulcompaniesasSynopsys,Coware,LucentTechnologies,andTexasInstrumentshavebandedtogetherundertheOpenSystemCInitiativetopromotetheirversionofthenext-generationdesignplatform.TogetSystemCofftoarunningstart,thegroupoffersamodelingplatformfordownloadofftheirWebsitefreeofcharge.Theirhopeisalsotomaketheirplatformthedefactostandard.TherationalefordevelopingSystemCwasstraightforward,accordingtoJoachimKunkel,generalmanagerandvicepresidentoftheSystemLevelDesignBusinessUnitatSynopsys.Itwastohaveastandardlanguageinwhichsemiconductorvendors,IPvendors,andsystemhousescouldexchangesystem-levelIPandexecutablespecifications,andtheelectronicdesignautomationindustrycoulddevelopinteroperabletools.SupportersofSystemCbelievethatthewould-bestandardhastobebasedonC+becauseitallowscapabilitiestobeaddedtoitwithoutleavingthelanguagestandard,KunkeltoldJEEESpectrum.MostsoftwaredevelopersuseC+andmanysystemsdevelopersuseC+alreadytodescribetheirsystemsatabehaviorallevel.Buttillnowithasnotbeenpossibletodescribehardwareusingthelanguage.ThedevelopersofSystemChavesolvedthatproblembydefiningnewC+classlibrariesandasimulationkernelthatbringtoC+allofthecapabilitiesneededtodescribehardware.zzThesenewclassesimplementnewfunctionality,explainedKunkel."Forexample,bitvectors-stringsofzerosandones-andalltheoperationsthatyouwoulddoonthem.TheSystemCdevelopersalsoprovidedaclassofsignedandunsignednumbers,thenotionofasignal,andotherconceptsneededtomodelhardware.Therearestillsomeholes,however.Forexample,itisstillnotpossibletosynthesizeagate-levelnetlistfromaSystcmCdescription.Rut