Extending CAD tools and techniques

The possibility of supporting codesign with CAD tools is examined. It is argued that, since high-level synthesis techniques support the design of hardware from behavioral descriptions, whose abstractions are similar to those used in software programs, design tools may soon be able to handle some aspects of the concurrent design of hardware and software modules. The use of CAD tools in designing embedded systems and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), the benefits of mixed hardware-software systems, and open issues relating to CAD tools for codesign are discussed.<
>