Tharas Systems will ship two design automation tools in Q3, 2005 that it says can verify embedded software and/or hardware at run-time speeds in the hundreds of kilohertz. The Hammer S-Class and M-Class “verification appliances” are based on custom multi-core processors, and are available with Virtual Connect plugins that enable embedded applications to run directly on an RTL design, according to the company.

(Click for larger view of Hammer S-Class appliance)

“The modular series maintains Tharas' leadership position with plug-and-play, event-accurate Verilog and VHDL simulation acceleration, and extends the products' utility into embedded system verification,” the company said.

The S-Class model is a single-user, rack-mountable appliance supporting up to 16 million ASIC gates, Theras says, while the multi-user M-Class (pictured above) supports up to 64 million ASIC gates.

The Hammer appliances are based on multi-core, custom processor chips. Theras says the Hammer appliances achieve a 1,000-fold speed increase over software-based emulation, because “the Hammer compiler directly maps HDL code to the instruction set of the Tharas custom processor, thereby eliminating the need to map RTL to gate-level primitives.”

Virtual Connect emulators

The Hammer appliances will be available with several system-level emulators that allow “hardware-software co-verification” of embedded systems, Tharas says, enabling software teams to port an operating system, develop device drivers, and complete most software stacks prior to silicon tape out. Virtual Connect emulators include:

• Virtual-PC, a platform for computer graphics applications
• Virtual-Net, a platform for networking applications
• Virtual-3G, a platform for wireless applications

Tharas CEO Rahm Shastry said, “Our customers experience ever-increasing pressures for first-pass silicon success, requiring extensive chip-level and system-level functional verification within shortened project schedules. Virtual Connect facilitates an emulation environment wherein the driver code and application programs directly interact with the RTL design running inside Hammer. This allows users to verify their design, prior to tape-out, in the context of application software, during RTL development.

Availability

The Hammer products and plugins will reach product in Q3, 2005, under both time-rental and purchase models, Theras says. Pricing starts at $14,000 for the Hammer SX, and $52,000 for the Hammer MX. Pricing for each of the Virtual Connect plugins starts at $75,000.

The tools run on Linux and Sun Solaris host platforms.

Theras will demonstrate its Hammer appliances at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Anaheim next week.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.