SystemC, a C++ library, offers the nuts and bolts to model the hardware at various abstraction levels.
Developing each IP model from scratch with low level semantics and boilerplate code can be a drain on engineering time and resources, leading to lower productivity and higher chances of introducing bugs. There is a need for a boost-like utility library on top of SystemC, that provides a rich collection of tool independent, re-usable modeling components that can be used across many IPs and SoCs.
One of the strengths of SystemC, and also its biggest weakness, is its versatility. SystemC allows you to develop models which can be at the RTL level, similar to Verilog / VHDL. It also allows you to develop the models at higher abstraction levels which can simulate as fast as real hardware. To effectively deploy SystemC in your projects, just learning the SystemC language is not sufficient, you need to understand the specific modeling techniques so that models are suitable for a specific use case. The modeling methodology or boost-like library on top of SystemC, for virtual prototyping use case should provide the re-usable modeling classes & components that encapsulate the modeling techniques required in virtual prototyping. Any model developed using this library will automatically be at higher abstraction levels, fully suitable for virtual prototypes.
Most of the semiconductor companies working on virtual platform projects end up developing such a library in-house in a tool independent fashion.
Over the years the team at CircuitSutra has built up their own SystemC library to accelerate virtual prototype projects. CircuitSutra Modeling Library (CSTML) has been successfully used in a wide variety of virtual platform projects for over a decade, and has become highly stable over that period of time.
Using CSTML as the base for your projects right from the beginning will ensure that your models are compliant with standards and can be integrated with any EDA tool. You may also use it as the base and further customize it to define your own modeling methodology.
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