SIERA - A UNIFIED FRAMEWORK FOR RAPID-PROTOTYPING OF SYSTEM-LEVEL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

Modern electronic systems contain a mix of software running on general -purpose programmable processors, algorithms hardwired into dedicated hardware such as custom boards and chips, electromechanical components , and mechanical interconnect and packaging, Far more time is spent in designing the boards, writing the software to drive, and integrate th e hardware, and other such system level issues, than is spent in desig ning any application-specific IC's that may be needed. Therefore a sys tems perspective of the design process is essential, as opposed to the conventional ''chip-focused'' approach, A design framework, called SI ERA, for application-specific systems is described in which higher lev el aspects of system design, including software, multichip design issu es present at the board level, and hardware-software integration are a ddressed, in addition to the design of individual custom chips, A high -level description of the system as a network of processes is mapped t o a system architecture template consisting of multiple boards using d edicated hardware modules and ASIC's as well as software processes run ning on programmable hardware modules, Application of SIERA's design m ethodology to a multisensory robot control system is also presented.