Towards a synthesis semantics for SystemC channels

In this paper we propose a synthesis semantics for SystemC™ channels, which contribute to a clear separation between computation (algorithm) and communication, whereas communication related parts are modelled through either primitive or hierarchical channels. We present a synthesisable replacement for SystemC primitive channels that allows deterministic access scheduling and user-constrained refinement for HW/HW and HW/SW communication. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach through synthesis and exploration of a communication intensive packet switch design under consideration of different configurations and communication refinements.