System design tools for broadband telecom network applications

Outlines a design methodology for the design of hybrid software/hardware systems that are typically found in telecom network applications. This methodology is based on the results of an investigation and evaluation of an actual industrial system application for ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) based broadband networks at Alcatel Bell. As a result of this investigation, we have developed a system design methodology based on a concurrent object-oriented programming model as the system behavioral specification formalism. For implementation, we provide automated design tools for transforming the system level model into the traditional levels of design entries for hardware and software implementation. In particular, conventional C++ and VHDL models are generated for the parts of the system to be implemented in software and hardware, respectively. New system-level synthesis functionalities are required to achieve these automations. It is important to note that traditional hardware and software design methods, mostly commercially available, are used in our design flow, thereby not reinventing new solutions where adequate ones already exist. The work outlined in this presentation is embodied in a system design compiler called Matisse.