A design automation toolkit for virtual instrumentation

This paper describes an electronic design automation (EDA) toolkit for Web page designers to produce a working virtual model of an instrument. The toolkit comprises an instrument workspace in which the instrument operates upon 2D active "appliances". The instrument software is encapsulated in a finite state diagram model which may be used hierarchically. The designer is also provided with a resource editor where the physical appearance of the instrument may be customized. The objective is to provide a fast track design route for new instruments to be designed and assessed by clients by providing an animated and graphical simulation accessible via the worldwide web network.