Workpackage 5
Workpackage 5’s objective is to identify the global software tool chain required to use efficiently complex SoC/SiP devices through the list of mandatory/highly desirable/optional tools.
D5.1 – End-users requirements, Software Tools Chain early definition
This deliverable is confidential to the Consortium members and European Defence Agency as funder of the project.
This deliverable D5.1 – End-users requirements, Software Tools Chain early definition is delivered in the context of WP5 – System development tools and more specifically in the context of Task 5.1 – SoC/SiP end-users requirements.
No matter how powerful and promising a component can be, a mature and complete toolchain is needed to take benefit from the capacities of the chip. We could even say: the more powerful and complex the hardware is, the better the tools need to be. Otherwise, the possibilities and features of the component will simply remain theoretic and impossible to exploit by end users. For instance, this is what Xilinx has understood for long, since the software engineers are much more numerous than the hardware engineers designing the chips.
That is why it is important in the frame of the EXCEED project to better define a complete toolchain which meets the needs of end users.
The EXCEED component is designed to answer to a wide range of different use cases, which all require exploiting different elements of the component to cover defence applications. The component needs to be programmed and configured for the ends users to be able to exploit its capacities to answer their given use cases. To that extent, the ends users will have to use a software toolchain that will be described below.
This toolchain will be composed of different elements that will be developed, tested and updated (for some of them) throughout the EXCEED program. The toolchain also includes entry-points for third-party tools, most of which are already familiar to end users of EXCEED.
Apart from the pure configuration of the SoC, end users have also expressed needs for this toolchain to be able to ensure industry safety standards.
A final definition of the toolchain and its associated roadmap released at the end of the project (Deliverable 5.2 – Software Tools Chain definition and associated Roadmap) will be built upon this document.
D5.3 – NanoXmap release 1
This deliverable is confidential to the Consortium members and European Defence Agency as funder of the project.
The purpose of this document is to propose an evaluation of NanoXmap release 1 (NXmap 3.11.0.1), performed by two internal reviewers.
D5.8 – Specifications of the HLS and Intercommunication tool
This deliverable is confidential to the Consortium members and European Defence Agency as funder of the project.
This deliverable D5.8 – Specifications of the HLS and Intercommunication tool is delivered in the context of WP5 – System development tools and more specifically in the context of Task 5.4 – Specific tools.
Within EXCEED we aim to develop a roadmap for the implementation of several tools that will allow the engineers/researchers to program the end device seamlessly while also take full advantage of the high-power provided by the final EXCEED SoC.
As one of the focuses of EXCEED is to provide a SoC and the associated tools for the development of military avionics systems and equipment, safety is certainly an aspect that should be covered. In that respect, military avionics systems require a safety certification and thus in this deliverable we assess existing safety related tools and provide the specifications of such a tool which may well be integrated in the EXCEED development tools ecosystem.
Moreover, the deliverable covers several tools that allow for efficient design space exploration, and which are, thus, expected to increase the productivity of the designers that will utilize the EXCEED SoC in their devices. It should be stressed that in a heterogeneous SoC like the one developed by EXCEED, it is crucial to have tools that allow the designers to investigate different partitioning strategies
In summary, this deliverable contains the specification of several tools/sub-tools that will be beneficial add-ons after the basic EXCEED programming tools have been developed and may be developed after the end of the project.