Fundamentals of SystemC Online

• System engineers and architects who wish to become skilled in the practical use of SystemC for system level modelling
• Software engineers who already have good knowledge of C/C++, but who wish to acquire some practical experience in the use of the SystemC class libraries

• How to make best use of the SystemC simulator to debug and validate your models
• How to move up from RTL modelling to transaction-level modelling
• An introduction to the SystemC TLM-2.0 standard
• An overview of high-level synthesis using SystemC (optional)
• An overview of the SystemC Verification Library SCV (optional)

• A working knowledge of C++ and of object-oriented programming concepts is essential and basic knowledge of hardware design is recommended. Prior attendance of the Doulos Essential C++ class (or equivalent) is required. Delegates with C++ experience should check their knowledge against the SystemC C++ Pre-requisites available from Doulos before attending.
• The course is suitable for electronic hardware, software or systems engineers, but in order to gain maximum benefit from this course, delegates should be active users of either a high-level software programming language (ideally C++) or a hardware description language (VHDL or Verilog®).

Please contact Doulos direct to discuss and assess your specific experience against the pre-requisites. 

Doulos training materials are renowned for being the most comprehensive and user friendly available. Their style, content and coverage is unique in the EDA training world, and has made them sought after resources in their own right. Fees include:

• Fully indexed class notes creating a complete reference manual
• Workbook full of practical examples and solutions to help you apply your knowledge
• Doulos SystemC Golden Reference Guide e-book for language, syntax, semantics and tips

If you would prefer a paperback version of your Doulos Golden Reference Guide, this can be purchased from the Doulos online shop.

Become proficient in using the features of SystemC

Introduction

Learn the background to SystemC and how SystemC fits into the system-level design flow • The architecture of the SystemC release • The benefits and risks of adopting SystemC • The objectives of transaction-level modeling 

Getting Started

Learn how SystemC source code is structured and how to organise files • SystemC header files and namespaces • Compiling and executing a SystemC model 

Modules and Channels

How to describe the structural connections between modules • Modules • Ports • Processes • Signals • Methods • Primitive channels • Module instantiation • Port binding 

Processes and Time

Describing concurrency and the passage of time • SC_METHOD • SC_THREAD • Event finders • Static and dynamic sensitivity • Time • Events • Clocks • Dynamic processes 

The Scheduler

Gain an insight into how SystemC manages the scheduling of processes and events • Starting and stopping simulation • Elaboration and simulation callbacks • The phases of simulation • Event notification • wait and next_trigger 

Learn to apply SystemC to modeling data, communication and busses 


SystemC Data Types

Data types for bit-accurate and hardware modeling • Signed and unsigned integers • Limited and finite precision integers • Assignment and truncation • Bit and part selects • Bit and logic vectors • Hexadecimal numbers 

Debugging and Tracing

Learn about the facilities provided by SystemC to ease debugging and diagnostics • The report hander • Customizing report actions • Writing trace (vcd) files 

Interfaces and Channels

Learn how channels are used to abstract communication and create fast simulation models • Hierarchical, primitive and minimal channels • Interface method calls • SystemC interfaces • Port-less channel access • The SystemC object hierarchy • The class sc_port • How to make the most of ports, channels and interfaces • sc_export 

Bus modeling

Learn the techniques required to write and use bus models in SystemC • Master and slave interfaces • The execution context of interface method calls • Blocking and non-blocking methods • Using events and dynamic sensitivity within channels • Multi-ports • Port binding policies 

Exploration of the application of Transaction-Level modeling

Additional Features

sc_signal_resolved • register_port • sc_process_handle • Event finders • default_event • pos vs. posedge vs. posedge_event • sc_event_queue • request_update and update • Passing arguments to spawned processes • terminated_event • sc_set_stop_mode 

Introduction to TLM-2.0

Transaction Level Modeling • Virtual platforms • The architecture of TLM-2.0 • TLM-2.0 coding styles • The interoperability layer • TLM-2.0 utilities • Initiator, target, and interconnect • Initiator and target sockets • Generic payload • Response status 

Further TLM-2.0

Software execution and simulation • The time quantum • b_transport • Timing annotation • Temporal decoupling • The quantum keeper • Base protocol rules • DMI • Simple sockets • Extensions • Interoperability 

Supplementary Reference Material

Fixed Point Types

Fixed point word length and integer word length • Quantization modes • Overflow modes • Fixed point context • The type cast switch • Utility methods 

Overview of SystemC Synthesis

RTL versus behavioural synthesis technology • The work of the OSCI synthesis working group • Synthesizable data types • Synthesis restrictions • Clocked threads and resets 

Overview of the SystemC Verification Library

Introduction to and aims of SCV • Constrained random verification methodology • Extended data types to support introspection • Randomization • Transaction Recording 

IEEE 1666-2011

An overview of the latest version of SystemC, that is, IEEE 1666-2011 and SystemC 2.3