February 1998, Issue 91

Codesign
The Evolving Relationship Between Hardware and Software

Soon, however, the overall situation may change dramatically. Players in the codesign-tool arena seem to be migrating toward a common approach—a speed-optimized mix of software modeling and hardware emulation. A year from now, these tools are likely to be robust and remarkably similar in the features they offer.

Widespread adoption of codesign methodologies and tools isn’t a question of "if" but "when." In fact, it would be beneficial for companies to work with codesign-tool vendors even this early. By doing this, they’d help shape tool features, while gaining the experience required to increase the probability of a successful design project.

With today’s high-performance silicon technologies inexpensively combining tremendous computer horsepower with integrated peripherals and memory, it’s no surprise the software content of today’s embedded systems has exploded. Most estimates place the software-development cost for a typical system at well over half the total development budget—a reality that the system development-tool industry has practically ignored for years.

In addition to the hardware components, such as one or more CPUs, possibly a coprocessor (e.g., a DSP or graphics coprocessor), an ASIC or two, some memory, and assorted off-the-shelf parts, a typical embedded system includes software components like an RTOS, device drivers, and an embedded application.