MODEL-YEAR ARCHITECTURES FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING

The Rapid Prototyping of Application-Specific Signal Processors (RASSP ) program is changing the way engineers design embedded signal process ors by providing a process that will reduce by at least a factor of fo ur both the time-to-market and cost, and improve design quality. To ac hieve these improvements, Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Labora tories (ATL) is using a methodology that stresses hardware and softwar e reuse, and model-year architectures that enable interoperability and upgrades through open interface standards. This paper describes ATL's model-year architecture, which defines a framework for reuse to enabl e low-cost technology upgrades for embedded processors. This approach can be applied to a wide range of military and commercial applications .