An algebraic theory for behavioral modeling and protocol synthesis in system design

The design productivity gap has been recognized by the semiconductor industry as one of the major threats to the continued growth of system-on-chips and embedded systems. Ad-hoc system-level design methodologies, that lifts modeling r levels of abstraction, and the concept of intellectual property (IP), that promotes reuse of existing components, are essential steps to manage design complexity. However, the issue of compositional correctness arises with these steps. Given components from different manufacturers, designed with heterogeneous models, at t levels of abstraction, assembling them in a correct-by-construction manner is a difficult challenge. We address this challenge by proposing a process algebraic model to support system design with a formal model of computation and serve as a type system to capture the behavior of system components at the interface level. The proposed algebra is conceptually minimal, equipped with a formal semantics defined in a synchronous model of comput...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: FMSD
• Authors: Jean-Pierre Talpin, Paul Le Guernic
• Keywords: Abstraction, Ad-hoc System-level Design, Design Productivity Gap, FMSD 2006