Xilinx, Inc.

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Arvind Sundararajan

Nabeel Shirazi

Chi Bun Chan

Shay Ping Seng

L James Hwang

Jingzhao Ou

Bradley L Taylor

Ramin Samadani

Amir Said

Haibing Ma

Amit Kasat

David Robinson

Andrew Dow

Sandeep Dutta

Singh Vinay Jitendra

Umang Parekh

Jinsong Du

Sean P Caffee

A method is provided for simulating a program executable by a processor and a circuit design configured to communicate with the processor. A processor on a programmable IC is configured to execute the program. Programmable resources on the programmable IC are configured to implement a plurality of interface circuits. Each of the interface circuits is configured to communicate data between the processor and a simulation environment using a respective communication protocol. The interface circuits that uses a communication protocol used by the circuit design is enabled and other ones of the interface circuits are disabled. The circuit design is simulated in a simulation environment coupled to the programmable IC. During the simulating, the program is executed on the processor and data is communicated between the processor and the computing platform using the determined one of the plurality of interface circuits.

Simulation of system designs

A circuit design is created in a computer memory in response to user input to a computer processor. The circuit design has a static portion. A virtual socket is instantiated in the circuit design in response to user input, and one or more reconfigurable modules are instantiated in the virtual socket in response to user input. The static portion of the circuit design is coupled to the one or more reconfigurable modules, and configuration data are generated from the circuit design. The configuration data include a configuration bitstream corresponding to the static portion of the circuit design and one or more partial configuration bitstreams corresponding to the one or more reconfigurable modules.

System and method for preparing partially reconfigurable circuit designs

A method relating generally to computer aided design is disclosed. In such method, a block-based model of a hardware realizable system is obtained. An internal gateway-in and an internal gateway-out of a module of the block-based model are identified. An interface protocol is assigned for the internal gateway-in and the internal gateway-out. Data type and data propagation for the module at the internal gateway-in and the internal gateway-out are analyzed. The internal gateway-in and the gateway-out are transformed into an input/output interface. Integrated code is generated for subsequent realization of the input/output interface in hardware.

Generation of internal interfaces for a block-based design

In one embodiment, a method is provided for processing a circuit design having first and second sets of ports configured to couple to respective first and second sets of ports of a device on a hardware platform. In a data-acquisition mode, the circuit design is simulated using a user-selectable plug-in that couples the ports of the circuit design to an interface circuit. During the simulation, the interface circuit communicates data between respective ports of the circuit design and ports of the device. In a deployment mode, the circuit design is implemented in the hardware platform, in which the first and second sets of ports of the circuit design are respectively coupled to the first and second sets of ports of the device.

Circuit design simulation

Within a system comprising a processor and a memory, a method of automatically documenting a circuit design can include determining an assignment of a user comment entity (UCE) of a high level modeling system (HLMS) circuit design to an HLMS block of the HLMS circuit design, translating each HLMS block of the HLMS circuit design into a hardware description language (HDL) representation of the HLMS block, and for each HLMS block assigned a UCE, inserting within the HDL representation, by the processor, content of the UCE that is assigned to the HLMS block in the form of a comment. The HDL representations can be stored within the memory.

Automatically documenting circuit designs

Approaches for creating a timed hybrid simulation model for a circuit design specification. An untimed, high-level language (HLL) data-path model is input, along with an HLL data-path interface specification that specifies input ports of the HLL data-path model. A hardware description language (HDL) control-path model that specifies port attributes and associated stitching directives is generated. Each stitching directive specifies a control port and an associated one of the input ports of the HLL data-path model. The HLL data-path and HDL control-path models are linked () to create the timed hybrid simulation model, and the timed hybrid simulation model is stored in a processor-readable storage medium.

Linking untimed data-path and timed control-path models

Approaches for simulating a circuit design. A block diagram of the circuit design is displayed. Each block has at least one input and at least one output, and at least one of the input or output of each block is connected to another block. Simulation data are input to a simulation model of the circuit design. During simulation of each of a plurality of the sub-circuits with the simulation model, an output data value is determined from one or more input data values to the simulated sub-circuit. Concurrent with determining the output data value, an output tag value corresponding to the output data value is determined. Concurrent with output of the output data value from the simulated sub-circuit, each output tag value is displayed proximate an output signal line from the block corresponding to the sub-circuit.

Signal tagging during simulation

An embodiment of the present invention provides a method and circuit for secure definition and integration of a core into a circuit design without exposing the core. In one embodiment, a core development package is obtained. The core development package includes an encrypted core and a decryption key of the encrypted core. The decryption key is encrypted with an asymmetric cipher. The encrypted core is transmitted from the design tool to a trusted platform module. The decryption key is decrypted with a private key of the asymmetric cipher. The encrypted core is decrypted within the trusted platform module. One or more design tool operations are performed using the decrypted core.

Method and circuit for secure definition and integration of cores

Within a system comprising a processor and a memory, a method of creating evaluation hardware within an integrated circuit can include automatically inserting, by the processor, a disable circuit block into a circuit design. The method can also include automatically selecting a location within the circuit design to insert the disable circuit block, and/or inserting an unlock circuit block into the circuit design, wherein responsive to receiving an unlock code, the unlock circuit block overrides the disable circuit block. The method also can include storing, within the memory, the circuit design comprising the disable circuit block.

Creating evaluation hardware using a high level modeling system

Design synchronization for a High-Level Modeling System ('HLMS') of an integrated circuit device ('IC') is described. In a method for generating a netlist, a description of a first circuit block of a user design is input to a programmed computer system programmed with a computer-aided modeling system. The description includes output port information of the first circuit block and synchronization signal information. The computer-aided modeling system selects a circuit core for the first circuit block responsive to output port information and the synchronization signal information, the circuit core including port metadata. The computer-aided modeling system selects at least one macro responsive to the port metadata for generation of the netlist. The macro is for rate synchronized coupling of the first circuit block to a second circuit block of the user design. The computer-aided modeling system outputs the netlist including the macro.

Synchronization for a modeling system

An interface to a dynamically configurable arithmetic unit can include data alignment modules, where each data alignment module receives input variables being associated with one or more arithmetic expressions. The interface can include multiplexers coupled to the data alignment modules, wherein a data alignment module has outputs coupled to a first multiplexer. The first multiplexer can have a selection line and an output coupled to an input port of the dynamically configurable arithmetic unit. The interface can include a second multiplexer having input instructions and the selection line, where each instruction is associated with one of the arithmetic expressions and has an operation to be performed by the dynamically configurable arithmetic unit. The second multiplexer is configurable to provide selected ones of the input instructions to the dynamically configurable arithmetic unit through an output of the second multiplexer responsive to the selection line.

Interfacing with a dynamically configurable arithmetic unit

A computer-implemented method of automatic rate realization for implementing a circuit design within a programmable integrated circuit can include comparing data rates of clock domains of the circuit design with frequencies of available clock sources of the circuit design and determining which clock domains have data rates that match frequencies of clock sources. For each clock domain that has a data rate matching a frequency of a clock source, loads of the clock domain can be clocked using a multiple synchronous clock technique with the matching clock source. For each clock domain having a data rate that does not match a frequency of a clock source, loads of the clock domain can be clocked using a clock enable technique. The circuit design specifying the clock circuitry for each clock domain can be output.

Automated rate realization for circuit designs within high level circuit implementation tools

Systems and methods of reducing artifacts in compressed images are described. In one aspect, spatially-shifted forward transforms of the input image are computed to generate respective sets of forward transform coefficients. Nonlinear transforms are applied to the forward transform coefficients of each set. Inverse transforms of the sets of nonlinearly transformed forward transform coefficients are computed to generate respective intermediate images. Respective measures of local spatial intensity variability are computed for pixels of each of the intermediate images. An output image is computed with pixel values computed based at least in part on the computed measures of local spatial intensity variability.

Reducing artifacts in compressed images

Generation of a circuit design using a command language. The various approaches include generating in a memory arrangement respective instances of design blocks in response to user-entered commands that specify creation of the instances. Matrix-relative positions of the instances of design blocks are established in the memory arrangement in response to at least one user-entered command that specifies respective matrix positions of the instances. Representative connections between the instances are generated in the memory arrangement in response to a user-entered command having no specification of the connections.

Generation of a circuit design from a command language specification of blocks in matrix form

An exemplary embodiment includes a method that receives a plurality of mathematical expressions having a plurality of input variables. The mathematical expressions can then be parsed, checked for proper syntax and one or more abstract syntax trees can be formed. Next, the input variables are then assigned to input ports of the dynamically configurable arithmetic unit. Then using the parsed mathematical expressions with the assigned input ports, a list of operations to be performed by the dynamically configurable arithmetic unit are determined. And lastly, an interface to the dynamically configurable arithmetic unit is generated using in part the variable-to-input port assignments and the list of operations.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Arvind Sundararajan