Modeling Embedded Systems: From SystemC and Esterel to DFCharts

This article addresses the need for directly expressing heterogeneous, hierarchical behaviors for modeling specific embedded systems. After analyzing two existing ESL languages, SystemC and Esterel, the authors create a new model of computation and a graphical language to gain the direct expressivity they need for their model. Although researchers have suggested various changes to SystemC and Esterel to fit modeling requirements, this article considers mainly standard SystemC and Esterel