SOLUTIONS
Our Unique Technology
VaST has solved the speed vs. accuracy tradeoff problem that has long plagued the software modeling of hardware. VaST's software simulation-based virtual system prototypes (VSP) enjoy speeds near those of the actual hardware with cycle accuracy. The term "virtual system prototype" refers to a software simulation-based, cycle-, register-, and timing-accurate model of the hardware portion of a system on a chip (SoC)*. Such a model can be used to represent a portion of an embedded system or the entire system. Unlike traditional instruction set simulator solutions (ISS), VaST simulation technology has been designed specifically to be able to achieve speed without sacrificing accuracy.
VaST uses abstraction (ignoring selected details) to achieve its ultra-high simulation speeds, but also maintains transition and state detail to assure timing accuracy. The VaST solution identifies which details are truly important and which can be abstracted to a behavioral algorithm. VaST's patented technology predicts and abstracts redundant details and then tracks the remaining details with complete accuracy.
VaST bus models are a good example. VaST buses are modeled at the transaction level and since the fully-timed arbiters do not have to run cycle by cycle they can hit performance of over 1.4 million transactions per second!
VaST Virtual System Prototypes are used for Architecture Analysis and Optimization and Software / Hardware Co-Development
VaST technology includes an ultra-fast, full event wheel, simulation engine, plus specialized peripheral, bus and processor modeling techniques to achieve high performance in every component of a system on a chip. VaST tools, CoMET, METeor, Metrix and Peripheral Device Builder provide quick development and exploration environments that are tightly integrated with the models and the simulator. The combined power of VaST tools and models allows a single-core simulation to achieve up to 200 MIPS, while multi-core systems with tiered memory structures, multi-level buses, bus bridges, and peripherals can be simulated at up to 100 MIPS depending on the configuration.
These speeds are sufficiently fast to support real-world tasks, such as booting an RTOS in a matter of seconds. The VaST virtual system prototype can run the same compiled and linked target code as the actual hardware device while accurately representing the system's real-world behavior. Meanwhile, the integrated environment provides real-world synchronization between all of the cores, buses, memories, and peripherals.
* VaST virtual system prototyping is also used in the automotive industry where these embedded systems are typically referred to as electronic control units, or ECUs.
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