Lotus-G: The PVT TLM Virtual Platform for Early RUMPS401 Software Development

摘要

Abstract The fascinating growth of Multi-Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) has brought a daunting task to software programmers. The task is to build software which could completely utilize hardware potentials. The virtual platform is one of the solutions which allows software programmers to develop the software early before the hardware is available. As a demonstration of concept and viability, here the functional accurate programmer's view with time (PVT) transaction-level modeling (TLM) virtual platform: Lotus-G is presented here and used for early software development of a real MPSoC project: RUMPS401. The Lotus-G mimics the RUMPS401 that is an ultra-low power MPSoC project developed in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) VLSI Design Center, Malaysia. The virtual platform is developed using SystemC and transaction-level modeling (TLM) methodology with the use of additional high-level models from Open Virtual Platforms (OVP). The simulation of Lotus-G takes place in SystemC environment with the help of an instruction set simulator from OVP to execute the software on the platform. This research showcases the results and details of early MPSoC software development using a PVT TLM Virtual Platform with OVP simulator and high-level models for real MPSoC project.