Synopsys, Inc. today expanded its IP Accelerated initiative with support for ARM® processors with the newDesignWare® Hybrid IP Prototyping Kits. The kits enable designers to prototype the ARM processor and memory elements of a design in a virtual environment for superior debug visibility, and to develop software for the DesignWare interface IP in an FPGA-based environment for high-performance execution with real-world interface connectivity. The Hybrid IP Prototyping Kits accelerate IP development by combining a Synopsys Virtualizer™ Development Kit (VDK) with a DesignWare IP Prototyping Kit consisting of a HAPS®-DX FPGA-based prototyping system with a DesignWare IP reference design. The VDK includes a virtual prototype of the ARMv8 Base Platform containing an ARM Cortex®-A57 plus Cortex-A53 big.LITTLE™ system. The Hybrid IP Prototyping Kits accelerate prototyping, hardware and software integration and system validation, enabling designers to start software development months earlier in the design cycle.
"Using Synopsys' hybrid prototyping solution enabled our design team to complete software development for our ARM-based system almost 20 days ahead of schedule," said Yukihiro Urakawa, Technology Executive, Logic LSI Design Division at Toshiba. "Even after the board with our own IC was available, we found that Synopsys' hybrid solution continued to aid in our software development, because its internal view of the system and precise control accelerated our debug. The seamless combination of the virtual development kit, HAPS FPGA-based prototyping system and DesignWare IP reference drivers gave us a critical time-to-market edge in the competitive image processing market."
The DesignWare Hybrid IP Prototyping Kits accelerate IP prototyping and software development:
Linux® software stack and drivers as well as a pre-verified DesignWare IP reference design accelerate hardware and software development and allow the user to start implementing and validating IP in an SoC context in minutes
The VDK enables efficient non-intrusive debug control and visibility. It is compatible with the industry's most popular software development tools including the ARM DS-5 Development Studio, Lauterbach TRACE32® and GNU GDB
The IP Prototyping Kit enables designers to accelerate the integration of IP into their target SoC, optimize the IP configuration and develop drivers and software applications with real world I/Os and hardware
"With the increase in software content for multi-core 64-bit ARMv8-based systems, developers are relying on prototyping solutions to help them start software development well before the hardware is available," said Chris Rommel, executive vice president of VDC Research. "By combining the benefits of FPGA-based and virtual prototypes into a single hybrid solution, Synopsys is giving developers the best of both worlds by enabling them to accelerate IP prototyping, software development and integration, and ultimately giving design teams a significant head start."
"Our IP Accelerated initiative goes beyond the traditional approach of providing IP by helping designers manage the growing software content and increasing complexity of their chips," said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP and prototyping at Synopsys. "As part of the IP Accelerated initiative, the DesignWare Hybrid IP Prototyping Kits provide design teams with the benefits of both virtual and FPGA-based prototyping in one integrated solution, enabling designers to start software development and system integration much earlier in the project lifecycle."''
