HARDWARE-SOFTWARE PARTITIONING FOR REAL-TIME EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

In this paper, we present an approach to hardware-software partitionin g for real-time embedded systems. Hardware and software components are modeled at the system level, so that cost and performance tradeoffs c an be studied early in the design process and a large design space can be explored. Feasibility factor is introduced to measure the possibil ity of a real-time system being feasible, and is used as both a constr aint and an attribute during the optimization process. An imprecise va lue function is employed to model the tradeoffs among multiple perform ance attributes. Optimal partitioning is achieved through the use of a n existing computer-aided design tool. We demonstrate the application of our approach through the design of an example embedded system.