The Application of Software Process Precedence Relationship Formalisms to Concurrent Hardware Systems

In this paper, precedence constraint combination formalisms defined in the software domain are used to define the behavior of hardware systems. Specifically, AND-join and various types of OR-join semantics are used to describe hardware systems composed of concurrent, cooperating hardware components. It is shown that synthesizable VHDL specifications can be created that model the semantics of these constraint combination formalisms for hardware systems. Using common semantics for systems in both hardware and software domains will help to unify system description across domain boundaries and aid in developing implementation independent system descriptions. Key Words: precedence constraints, execution constraints, execution dependencies, constraint combination, synchronization

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: PDPTA
• Authors: Kenneth G. Ricks, David Jeff Jackson, B. Earl Wells
• Keywords: Constraint Combination, Constraint Combination Formalisms, Hardware Systems, PDPTA 2003, PDPTA 2007