Virtual Prototyping of T-Engine Systems Using RTOS Centric Co-Simulation in Systemc

In this paper, we present our methodology for virtual prototyping at high level of abstraction, to validate the execution of real time applications on simulated H/W, using RTOS centric co-simulation in System C. The basic rationale of our methodology is to build simulation models of RTOS kernels targeting the μ-ITRON OS specification standard and use these models as centre of HW/SW co-simulation. To demonstrate the viability and the potential of the presented methodology, we describe an RTOS-centric co-simulation framework based on T-Kernel, a commercial RTOS kernel that inherits ITRON technology and powers the T-Engine System widely used in Japanese industry as an open development platform for embedded systems. Finally, we discuss the merits of such co-simulation framework to virtually prototype, debug, and evaluate the performance of an application S/W running on T-Engine.