Carbon Announces Availability of ARM Cortex Models

Update: ARM to Offer Cycle-Accurate Virtual Prototyping for Complex SoCs Through an Asset Acquisition from Carbon Design Systems (October 20, 2015)

Implementation-Accurate Models of ARM’s Most Advanced Processors and AMBA Supporting IP Speed Development of Advanced SoCs

ACTON, MASS. -- March 11, 2009 -- Carbon Design Systems™, the leading supplier of tools for the automatic creation, validation and deployment of system-level models, announced today that it has begun shipping implementation-accurate model solutions for ARM’s most advanced processor and interconnect components.  

These models will deliver implementation-level accuracy for architectural decisions and pre-silicon firmware development.

The newly released Carbon Models include implementation-accurate models for all variations of the ARM® Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ multicore processor and PrimeCells®, including the AMBA® 3 Interconnect (PL301) matrix.

“The Cortex-A9 is a fantastic showcase for the capabilities of Carbon’s Model Studio’s technology,” comments Tom Rathje, Carbon’s vice president of engineering.  “It would have made the process of validation unproductive if we had attempted to hand-write a model for the Cortex-A9 processor, which accurately replicated its out-of-order and multiple-pipeline behavior.  Instead, we have compiled ARM’s register transfer level code into an implementation-accurate software model and then concentrated our efforts on linking in the features which make virtual prototypes so valuable.”

All Carbonized ARM technology-based models will feature debugger integrations for the software developer and hardware engineer as well as other features, such as semi-hosting, breakpointing and single-stepping.  This enables them to seamlessly integrate with virtual platforms such as Carbon’s SoC Designer to enable accurate architectural analysis and pre-silicon firmware development.

“The ARM PrimeCell Interconnect is another ideal fit for Carbon’s modeling capabilities,” continues Rathje.  “It’s a configurable matrix with up to 32 master and 32 slave ports that can be fully or sparsely connected, and each port can support any of ARM’s current AMBA protocols.  Since we are directly compiling ARM’s RTL code, we can leverage the accuracy of Carbon’s technology to deliver a model which will guarantee accurate architectural analysis.”

“Following our decision to transfer SoC Designer to Carbon, we are pleased with the modeling solutions they are delivering,” states Eric Schorn, vice president of Marketing, Processor Division, ARM.  “We see the partnership as critical to providing the implementation-accurate models of ARM that the industry needs to fully explore the value ARM processors and fabric technology deliver in our partners’ complex SoC designs.”

About the Models

The ARM Model solutions available in this release are targeted to allow designers to create an entire virtual platform composed of implementation-accurate components.  Models include the Cortex-A9 Processor in configurations with one to four processors; the PL301 High-Performance Matrix; the PL310 L2 Cache Controller; the PL340 DDR Memory Controller; and the PL330 DMA Controller.  Rounding out the list are the PL011 UART and PL190 Vectored Interrupt Controller.
ARM Model solutions are available to customers with and without access to ARM RTL code.  All Carbonized ARM Models represent 100% of the implementation-accuracy of the RTL code.  ARM Model solutions are available today for Carbon’s SoC Designer virtual platform and Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) SystemC.  
Additional processor and peripheral models will be released later this year.  The complete ARM processor and peripheral component portfolio will be supported by the end of the summer.

About Carbon Design Systems

Carbon offers the leading system validation solution for complex system-on-chip (SoC) designs.  Target applications range from model generation and deployment to virtual platform creation, execution, and analysis.  Carbon provides 100% implementation accuracy on the critical components required for accurate architectural analysis and pre-silicon hardware/software validation.  Solutions are based on open industry standards, including SystemC, IP-XACT, Verilog, VHDL, OSCI TLM, MDI, SCML, CASI, CADI and CAPI.  Carbon’s customers are systems, semiconductor, and IP companies that focus on wireless, networking, and consumer electronics.  Carbon is headquartered at 125 Nagog Park, Acton, Mass., 01720.  Telephone:  (978) 264-7300.  Facsimile:  (978) 264-9990.  Website:  www.carbondesignsystems.com.