VLAB Virtual Platform Solutions Accelerate Software and Systems Development

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA. (PRWEB) September 07, 2013

VLAB Works introduces new releases of its flagship virtual prototyping solutions, including VLAB and VLAB Toolboxes, extending support for the two main VLAB user constituencies: developers of virtual system prototypes and platforms, and developers of embedded software.

Highlights: VLAB 1.11.0

Simpler, faster, more powerful tools for development of virtual platforms and system simulation:
VLAB evolution features new ease of use features; support for the latest standards; and a new generation of support for unmodified third party models with access to VLAB value-added features. VLAB now allows:

•     Simplified simulator creation, description, and encapsulation for reuse. Virtual platforms can be even more easily created, componentized, and multiply instantiated as building blocks in larger system simulations.
•     Access to VLAB features such as user-defined register breakpoints, for unmodified third party models, including plain SystemC models.
•     SystemC 2.3 support; with all ABI compatible features.
•     Improved user experience with support for simulator reset, via debugger, Python API and VLAB GUI; enabling use cases that previously required simulation restart.

The new release also introduces several new or upgraded VLAB Toolboxes, extending the utility of VLAB virtual prototyping, especially for software users in production environments.

VLAB Toolboxes for Interoperability:

VLAB Toolboxes for interoperability include the General Co-simulation Toolbox, HDL/RTL Co-simulation Toolbox, MATLAB/Simulink Co-simulation Toolbox, a new MATLAB Link Toolbox, a Vector Co-simulation Toolbox, and an FPGA Co-simulation Toolbox.

The new MATLAB Link Toolbox provides a closer coupling for MATLAB /Simulink integration, with access to all MATLAB functions and commands from VLAB, interactively and programmatically. This level of integration enables new levels of interoperability and reuse. It includes seamless data exchange between MATLAB and VLAB, both in memory and on disk, in MAT/HDF5 format. A VLAB user can now embed calls to MATLAB functions in VLAB user scripts, interleaving MATLAB, Python, and SystemC code and execution. The new MATLAB Link Toolbox makes it easy to set up a Simulink/VLAB co-simulation environment; no compile/build cycle is required for new user-defined Simulink models, which are created on the fly, without the need for a C/C++ tool chain.

VLAB Toolboxes for Software Development:

VLAB Software Development Toolboxes accelerate embedded software development, and include Software Debug Server, Software Debug Client, Software Analysis, and OS Aware Debug and Analysis Toolboxes.

The new Software Analysis Toolbox offers a complete framework and architecture for capturing simulation data, performing analysis on trace data, and textual or graphical visualization of analysis results. It offers pre-defined functions supporting key software analysis use cases for easy discovery, selection and use, and the power to easily create arbitrary new analysis functions via VLAB scripts.

An updated Software Debug Server Toolbox features added support for Keil (from ARM) as a debug client, and multi-core support for Green Hills Software MULTI.

VLAB Computation and Algorithms Toolboxes:

The computation and algorithms portfolio is for early architectural exploration, implementation prototyping, and development of algorithms. (For an example of an automotive case study using this technology, see http://vlabworks.com/automotive-algorithmic-modeling.) They include Numerical and Scientific Computations, Image Processing, Statistical Modeling, Symbolic Mathematics, and Graph Algorithms Toolboxes.

VLAB IP and SoC Models

All VLAB 1.11.0 enhancements support models for industry-leading IP and SoCs from ARM, CEVA, Freescale, Renesas, Tensilica, TI and more.

Availability and Resources

The new VLAB 1.11.0 and Toolbox releases are available now.

Learn more about VLAB: Videos on the VLAB Advantage, ROI from virtual prototyping, and demos of VLAB virtual platforms: http://vlabworks.com/vlab-multimedia

About ASTC / VLAB Works

ASTC (Australian Semiconductor Technology Company) and VLAB Works serve electronics and embedded software markets and supply chains globally, across automotive, mobile, consumer and other applications. ASTC is a semiconductor and software design services and solutions company. Its subsidiary VLAB Works delivers innovative ESL and virtual prototyping software for embedded software and system developers. VLAB Works and ASTC are privately held, and headquartered in Adelaide, Australia, with over 100 staff and offices in Australia, Europe, Japan, and North America. For more information, see http://vlabworks.com and http://astc-design.com.

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