SYSTEM-ON-CHIP RESEARCH LEADS TO HARDWARE/SOFTWARE CO- DESIGN DEGREE

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1 SYSTEM-ON-CHIP RESEARCH LEADS TO HARDWARE/SOFTWARE CO- DESIGN DEGREE Donald J. Dent 1 Abstract A case study of multi-chip module design, implementation and evaluation has been undertaken by the author at Matra Marconi Space as part of an on-going research programme into large electronic designs. Multichip modules offer an intermediate step towards systemon-chip. The intention of Matra Marconi Space is to use unprecedented levels of electronic integration in the next generation of communications satellites to provide the maximum number of channels thereby giving maximum revenue to the satellite operators. This case study has already had an impact on the curriculum of the degree courses at the University of Luton. Consequently, hardware description languages have been integrated into the electronics degrees for many years now and all students have extensive use of current, industry standard, electronic design automation tools. The theme of all of the electronics courses at Luton is Design, Simulate, Build and Evaluate. Students educational experience has immediate relevance in industry which has resulted in the student s obtaining exceptionally good careers when they graduate. This case study laid the foundation of the system-on-chip research at the University of Luton that has resulted in the hardware/software co-design masters programme 1.0 INTRODUCTION The on-going research into system-on-chip design at the University of Luton has led to the development of an MSc in Hardware/Software Co-design [3]. This is a logical progression for our electronic degrees, since, when electronic design becomes very large and complex, it is impossible to consider software design separately from hardware design. The interaction between software and hardware in system-on-chip designs is crucial. The electronic design automation tools which enable hardware/software co-design, co-verification and coimplementation have only become available recently. Therefore, it is now possible to design a course to bridge the merging disciplines of computer science and electronic engineering. The current project at the University of Luton, which is at a very advanced state, is to harness the knowledge gained by the research work into course material for the MSc Hardware/Software Co-design. Stateof-the-art Electronic Design Automation co-design tools will be utilised to target very large field programmable gate array, e.g. Xilinx Virtex [6] to provide system-onchip experience. This project is an example of how research can have a direct and dramatic impact on the curriculum and can provide a sea change in the way computer science and electronic engineering is being taught at undergraduate and post-graduate level. 1.1 CASE STUDY The opportunity to undertake this case study [1] was given by the Department of Trade and Industry who sponsored the author on a Senior Academic in Industry Scheme at Matra Marconi Space s Stevenage plant in 1994/95. The purpose of the Senior Academic in Industry Scheme was to help Matra Marconi Space introduce new, state-of-theart technology, in this case multi-chip Modules [5] and Field Programmable Gate Arrays, to the industry. The case study was the beginning of the system-on-chip research, which has preceded the proposed Hardware/Software Codesign master s programme. It is discussed here to show the background to the development of the new masters programme. The case study was used to assess and evaluate new electronic technologies, in particular multi-chip modules and field programmable gate arrays, for the next generation of communication satellites. The design used was of sufficient complexity, containing both application specific integrated circuits and field programmable gate arrays, that it could be used as a technology demonstrator. The work on the case study indicated a continuing trend in industry towards increasingly complex electronic design on a single chip. Hence the interest in system-on-chip at the University of Luton. 1.2 THE RATIONALE FOR THE HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MASTER S PROGRAMME Hardware and software design have been considered separate disciplines until recently. However, the boundary between the two disciplines is blurring as industry develops systems that are ever more complex and where trade-offs have to be made between hardware and software implementation [2][4]. Many electronic systems being developed today contain algorithms implemented in both microprocessors/computers and application specific integrated circuits or field programmable gate arrays interacting with each other. These systems need design engineers who can bridge the two disciplines of hardware and software design to produce an optimal solution. At the moment, degrees offered by most universities do not recognise this new requirement of industry and still teach 1 Faculty of Science, Technology and Design, University of Luton, Luton, United Kingdom, LU1 3JU, don.dent@luton.ac.uk S1G-1

2 hardware and software design as separate fields of study. The development of the MSc in Hardware/Software Codesign at the University of Luton is planned to supply this new type of design engineer. Modern electronic systems have increased dramatically in complexity and in the use of embedded software systems. A good example is in the area of mobile communications with complex modulation, coding and adaptive power control, much of which is accomplished with or controlled by embedded software. Obtaining optimum performance from such systems requires careful partitioning of the hardware and software elements of the system. Although large organisations have been able to keep abreast of the rapid developments in this area, many small to medium enterprises are being left behind and are losing their competitive edge. The motivation to offer the MSc Hardware/Software Co-design comes from the fact that at least two local major employers are moving into system-on-chip design. The aims of this masters programme are: To enhance existing knowledge of electronics through a study of modern techniques used in analogue and digital electronics; To develop the concept of hardware/software codesign and co-verification and co-implementation; To work in a group to produce a complex design using co-design principles and to co-verify and coimplement the design using industry standard electronic design automation packages. 1.3 QUALITY OF THE COURSE CONTENT AND INNOVATION IN THE METHOD OF DELIVERY The University of Luton will offer an MSc in Hardware/Software Co-design to fulfil the industrial need described above. The course will be multi-disciplinary, attracting students from both electronic engineering and computer science, and will be unique in the local region. It is also expected that the course will attract many part-time students from industry who require skills updating as part of their continuous professional development. The course will make innovative use of state-of-the-art co-design, coverification and co-implementation software such as CoWare N2C, Mentor Graphics Seamless and Synopsys Eaglei. This leading-edge capability will give the students hands-on experience of the latest tools for hardware/software co-design. In keeping with the philosophy of the Department of Electronics & Mathematics, the MSc Hardware/Software Co-design will underpin simulation and practical implementation with a foundation of theoretical studies in relevant areas. 1.4 COURSE CONTENT The working titles of modules and schedule are shown in Table 1. The intention is to give a balance of multidisciplinary theory and practical skills, at masters level, consistent with the aim of producing hardware/software engineers capable of leading these complex system-on-chip projects. All core modules are mandatory, however, one option may be chosen in each semester. To be awarded the degree students will need to accumulate at least 180 credits from the modules shown in Table Group System-on-Chip Project The aim of the group project is to integrate all those skills acquired during the course. Each group will consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of five students. A group leader will be appointed, responsible for the overall management of the project and the allocation of tasks. The system-on-chip project will typically consist of a microprocessor RISC core interfaced to processing electronics all implemented in a large field programmable gate array, for example, a speech recognition system. The students will be expected to co-design, co-verify, implement and evaluate the whole system. The students will be expected to work on their own initiative for the group project. However, consistent with departmental policy towards projects, each group will be assigned their own tutor. In addition, a project manager, who deals with the organisational and administrative issues related to the project, will be available for a fixed period every week. The group project will be assessed by a project presentation/demonstration and a project report supported by a short viva-voce examination Reliable Software by Design This core module is used to extend the student s experience of high level languages. The aim is to give the students the high level programming skills that are necessary for hardware/software co-design. Delivery of this module will be by short lectures and practical laboratory sessions. Assessment of this module will be by practical software assignments. Indicative content will include: Software life cycle (general concepts, requirement analysis techniques, rapid prototyping, human factors, testing phase); Software specification (specification document, structured systems analysis, informal/semi-formal specification, entity relationship modelling, finite state machines, petri-net, formal methods) ; Software design (design & abstraction, actionoriented design, data flow analysis, data oriented design, object oriented design, formal methods for detailed design, real time design, verification of design); Software coding techniques (choice of programming languages, coding standards, re-usable modules blackbox module testing glass-box module testing, techniques for debugging) ; Verification/validation techniques (software quality assurance, standards and procedures, final technical reviews, measurement of performance, testing) ; Implementation (top-down implementation and integration, bottom-up implementation and S1G-2

3 integration, implementation and integration of object oriented modules, management issues, testing during implementation, final product testing) Embedded System Design This module considers the microprocessor as an element within a larger system or process. The aim of the module is to give the student experience of embedded system design and software design within the context of an application. The module assumes that the student is familiar with microprocessors and high level languages. The method of delivery is through short lectures for the theory and hands-on practical laboratory sessions to gain in-depth experience. Assessment will be by a practical design assignment and a final examination. Applications (how embedded systems provide the best solution); The correct core for the application (for 8bit-64bit, digital signal processing, application specific integrated circuit/field programmable gate array); Memory considerations; Interfacing (including networks) Development systems (including the use of on-chip debugging); Operating systems for embedded applications; Fault tolerance Digital Signal Processing Theory The aim of this module is to equip the student with the digital signal processing theory of filters and transformations together with the underlying mathematical techniques. Mathematical modelling (using MATLAB) of the various techniques will be used to reinforce the theory. Lectures supported by laboratory sessions for the mathematical modelling will be the method of delivery. Assessment will be by a practical mathematical modelling assignment and a final examination. Indicative content will include: Signals & systems (sampling, multi-rate, linear systems models); Transformations (Z-transform, Discrete Fourier Transform(DFT), Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT); Correlation (auto & cross, overlap add/save); Filtering (Finite Impulse Response (FIR), Infinite Impulse Response (IIR), adaptive); Spectral analysis (principles, periodogram, parametric); Random signal processing (random vectors & processes, extinction, linear prediction) Hardware/Software Co-Design Principles This module will introduce the students to the techniques for producing an optimum hardware/software partition. Trade-off analysis between hardware and software implementations will be considered. The use VHDL (Very high-speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language) for hardware design and high level languages for software design and their interaction will be examined. The method of delivery will be a combination of lectures and laboratory practicals. Assessment will be by assignment and final examination. System specification;(co-specification of hardware and software) System Design Languages (capturing the specification in a single description); System modelling/simulation Partitioning (optimising hardware/software partition); Co-verification (simulation interaction between custom hardware and processor); Co-implementation (using back-end tools to target a large field programmable gate array) Analogue Electronics in a Digital World The aim of this option module is give the students an insight into interfacing digital electronics to the analogue real world. The students will gain experience of analogue signal processing techniques and the use of Spice as an analogue simulation tool. The new area of Analogue Hardware Description Languages will be considered. Delivery of the module will be by lectures and by design and simulation exercises. Assessment will be by a design assignment and a final examination. Indicative content will include: Transducer interfaces (transducer selection, preamplifiers); Signal conditioning (bridges, filters, and scaling) Interfacing to digital systems (A-D &D-A converters, sampling and aliasing); Signal processing (data manipulation and display); User interfaces (custom and off-the-shelf solutions) Research Methods and Presentation Skills Research Methods is an option module, which includes the use of information sources for literature searches. In addition, mathematical and statistical analysis of data for research projects is studied. The presentation of data and information for research reports and theses is also investigated. The method of delivery of this module is through lectures for the theory and practical exercises. The method of assessment will be by written research assignment and a presentation. Information sources for research papers; Digital libraries; Data collection and analysis; Statistical methods; Thesis styles, Presentation skills. S1G-3

4 1.4.8 Real Time Operating Systems This module builds on the work done in Embedded System Design, by studying the use of microprocessor in a real time application. The concept of multi-tasking and scheduling is considered in some detail in addition to real time operating systems. The delivery of this module is by lectures followed by hands-on practical experience of a state-of-the art real time development environment (i.e. Wind River Tornado). The assessment will consist of a design assignment and a final examination. Properties (features of common real time operating system); Task scheduling (possible algorithms, methods used by different real time operating systems); Sharing resources (comparison of protection mechanisms, availability in different systems); Communicating between tasks (methods and comparison of effectiveness); Interrupt handling Digital Signal Processing Applications This module underpins the work in digital signal processing Theory by concentrating on actual implementations of digital signal processing techniques. The mathematical models used previously will now form the basis working software/hardware realisations of the theory thus equipping the students with the digital signal processing skills necessary to incorporate such functions into a system. The method of delivery is by lectures and extensive laboratory work with digital signal processors. Assessment of this module is by two in-depth design assignments. Indicative content will include: Simulation (MATLAB & Simulink, design & evaluation of filters, spectral analysis, correlation); Digital signal processors (fixed & floating point, architecture, manufactures, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)); Implementations (error correction/detection, matched filters, speech processing, vocoders, compression) Hardware/Software Co-Design Practice In this module, the co-design principles are implemented in design work using industry standard software and hardware development tools (i.e. Wind River Tornado and Viewlogic) together with a state-of-the-art co-design and co-verification environment (CoWare and Mentor Graphics Seamless). A microprocessor system interfacing to a field programmable gate array will form part of a mini-project giving the students hands-on experience of co-design. This module will be mostly laboratory based with lectures to introduce the technology. The assessment method will consist of a design assignment to gain familiarity with the tools followed by a mini-project. Indicative content will include: Writing an actual specification; Capturing the specification in a System Design Language; Simulating the system design; Optimising the hardware/software partition; Implementing the design; Evaluation the working system Project Management for System-on-Chip This option module is intended to develop the project management skills of those students without a strong background in the subject. The aim is to build on project management skills to enable students to plan, control and execute complex system-on-chip projects. Delivery of this module is by lectures support by hands-on experience of project planning tools. Assessment is by written assignment and final examination. Indicative content will include: Project estimating (bid preparation); Project planning (Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Statement of Work (SOW), Gantt and PERT charts; Risk analysis (Monte Carlo methods) Project team management; Project managing/monitoring (re-scheduling and crisis management); Project reporting (customer liaison, milestone meetings and interim reports); Final report (lessons learned) Communication Systems for the 21 st Century This is a further option offered to students wishing to enter the communication industry. The aim of the module is to study leading edge communications systems where many opportunities for hardware/software co-design already exist. Systems such as the cellular telephone system, satellite communications and the proposed personal communications network will be studied in detail. Delivery of the module will be by a combination of lectures and laboratory work. Assessment will be by an assignment and a final examination. Indicative content will include: Improvements in coding, compression and modulation techniques to increase bandwidth efficiency Adaptive control of antennas, power systems and gain; Multi-carrier systems ; Terabit optical networks; Bluetooth radio network; 3G Mobile Communications. 1.5 RELEVANCE OF THE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES The emergence of products such as the mobile telephone, where complex radio frequency analogue and digital electronics implement signal processing which is controlled by an embedded software system, has created a S1G-4

5 requirement for cross-disciplinary design engineers. This type of system-on-chip design, with hardware and software totally integrated, will become the norm for future products. As these systems become more complex, with increasing levels of hardware integration and software sophistication, conventional design methods become inadequate and alternative ways of achieving an optimal design are required. Hardware/software co-design, co-verification and co-implementation is a relatively new technique which can be applied to these emerging products for right-first-time design thus avoiding expensive second iterations. Right-first-time methods have been used to great success in application specific integrated circuit design but often the fault in the design is in the interaction between the hardware and the software. Co-verification software has recently being developed so that the microprocessor and the electronic hardware can be simulated together as a system, with obvious advantages. 1.6 RELATIONSHIP TO THE EXISTING PROVISION The University of Luton offers the following degrees in electronics and computer science: BSc Communication System Design; BSc Computer System Engineering; BSc Digital System Design; BSc Electronic System Design; BSc Computer Science. These degrees are all vocational in that they give the students the skills that will make them immediately useful to an employer. In this respect, graduates from the degrees shown above have been extremely successful in the employment market and have embarked on many very satisfying careers. The graduates have been well received by the industry and there are many examples of good feedback from employers. The emphasis in these degrees is on giving students experience of industry standard development and simulation tools for both software and hardware. This is underpinned with a solid theoretical base but again the emphasis in on the relevance of the theory in the workplace. The aim of the courses is to produce graduates with skills that potential employers require and can utilise. The MSc Hardware/Software Co-design will be offered in a one-year full-time mode, from October 2001, as part of the University of Luton s Modular Credit Scheme. Parttime students from industry will be able to study the course over two year period, by day release. The course will build on skills gained at undergraduate level as either an Electronics or Computer Science student. Visiting lecturers from local electronics companies will be used to give an industry perspective and relevance to the course. 1.7 SUMMARY The future of electronic hardware design is now inextricably bound up with software so that the two disciplines must be taught as one. System-on-chip projects now demand a systems engineering approach right through to implementation. The Electronic Design Automation tools for this kind of work are just becoming available together with very large Field Programmable Gate Arrays, such as Xilinx Virtex, which will enable students to gain hands-on experience of hardware/software co-design relatively inexpensively. Probably, in the near future, the disciplines of hardware engineer and software engineer will disappear. In which case there will only be systems engineers who will use the system-on-chip approach. System-on-chip brings a fresh challenge to higher education in computer science and electronics. It is unlikely that students would have sufficient background in electronics or software to tackle a system-on-chip design until postgraduate level. Even at postgraduate level a double length project will be required in order to develop and implement a system-on-chip design. Group projects are probably the only way that a system-on-chip design could be brought to fruition in the limited time available to students and this is exactly what is being proposed for the course at Luton. The electronic design automation tools for system-on-chip design are very complex and will need some time for familiarisation. Therefore a careful balance has to be made between the theoretical and hands-on content of the course. Another increasingly important issue concerning system-on-chip is that of intellectual property [3] and its re-use. In the future, the creation and ownership of intellectual property may be as economically important as manufactured products. It is therefore strategically vital that the new generations of systems engineers are capable of taking full advantage these opportunities. Licensing intellectual property may offer an opportunity for the developed world to regain some of the ground lost to the underdeveloped world in terms of manufacturing. Knowledge based economies in the developed world will depend to some extent on intellectual property in one form or another and this will apply equally to the electronics industry. There is no doubt that that a radical change is required in the teaching of hardware and software engineering. The new masters programme at the University of Luton seeks to address this challenge. 1.8 REFERENCES [1] Dent, D. J., Project Management for System-on-Chip Using Multi- Chip Modules, Proceedings of ISQED 2000, San Jose, California, [2] De Micheli, G. and Sami, M., Hardware/Software Co-design, Kluwer Academic Publishers, [3] Madrid, N. M. and Seepold, R., Hardware/Software Co-Design for IP Based on CORBA, Proceedings of VIUF Workshop, [4] Paul. J. M.,Thomas, D. E., Weber, S. J. and Peffers, N., Hardware and Software as Dual Languages for Computer System Modeling, Proceedings of IEEE Computer Society Annual Workshop on VLSI, April [5] Sherwani, N., Yu, Q. and Badida, S., Multi-Chip Modules, Wiley, [6] Xilinx, Virtex -E 1.8V Field Programmable Gate Arrays - Advanced Product Specification, Xilinx, February S1G-5

6 MSc Hardware/Software Co-design Module Name Core/Option Semester Credits Group System-on-Chip Project Core 1 & 2 45 Reliable Software by Design Core 1 15 Embedded System Design Core 1 15 Digital Signal Processing Theory Core 1 15 Hardware/Software Co-design Principles Core 1 15 Analogue Electronics in a Digital World Option 1 15 Research Methods and Presentation Skills Option 1 15 Real Time Operating Systems Core 2 15 Digital Signal Processing Applications Core 2 15 Hardware/Software Co-design Practice Core 2 15 Project Management for System-on-Chip Option 2 15 Communication Systems for the 21 st Century Option 2 15 Table 1 Course Structure S1G-6