Mandelbrot core running on FPGA built by collaboration between ZHAW University and Enclustra using Visual System Integrator.
Wikipedia LinkThe intent of the product is to be able to describe complete heterogeneous systems in a intuitively easy to use graphical environment. This is the only product in the market that allows the user to describe both platform specification and build a system using the platform in the same environment.
The intended user of the product starts from the system architect who creates the specifications for the components of the systems and how they are connected, he/she uses the platform view of the product to create these specifications.
The platform view consists of multiple execution contexts; the contexts can either be software (e.g. X86, ARM, DSP, Zynq Family of Embedded Processors) or hardware (Xilinx-FPGAs). The contexts are connected to each other using platform interfaces (PCI/e or On-Chip interconnect like AXI for Zynq Family of processors), they are connected to the external world using platform inputs & outputs.
Figure 1, shows the screen shot of the platform view of a network packet processing system. The system consists of two Xilinx FPGA based line cards connected to a single X86 computer via PCI/E. The X86 is connected to the outside world via a TCP/IP platform input/output. The line cards are connected to the NETWORK and the LAN via Ethernet interfaces.
Detailed configuration parameters of the platform interfaces and the platform I/Os can be adjusted using configuration panels that pop-up when the interfaces are clicked.
Similarly the characteristics of each execution context can be specified using configuration panels, for example for the software context the user can specify the type of CPU (X86, ARM.. etc.), number of CPUs, the operating system amongst other configuration parameters, for hardware contexts the user can specify the Xilinx-FPGA part being used along the board interfaces.
The user can describe the complete system architecture using the Platform View. Once the platform has been has been defined, it is compiled to generate meta information that is used by the subsequent stages. The meta information is used by the code generator in the system design phase to generate the appropriate device drivers (for software) and hardware designs (for Xilinx-FPGAs).
System design for a given platform begins by creating a new system view and importing the platform meta information created in the previous step. The design flow allows for each context to be implemented by a separate development team. Figure 2 shows the design flow for a complete system using System View’s product.
The designers create blocks of code with predefined interfaces; these blocks are then connected to represent the data-flow between different blocks. Interfaces from blocks in different execution contexts can be connected, the Visual system compiler will infer the hardware design (for Xilinx FPGAs) along with the software drivers required to make the connections.
Figure 3 Shows the network packet engine designed on the platform described in Figure 1. The Software Blocks are executing on the X86 server, which controls the line cards connected to the X86. There are multiple control interfaces crossing between the Software and the hardware blocks. The Visual System Compiler will determine the transport mechanism required to move the data for these connections from the platform definition (platform meta data imported), and generate the appropriate driver for the software project, and will instantiate the hardware blocks (using Xilinx FPGA IPs) required to connect over the interface (in this case it will be Xilinx PCI/E hardware block).
For the software blocks the User can also specify many thread characteristics of the block, the compiler will generate multi-threaded code for the block including all the thread management. The user can easily move the blocks between thread-groups and between CPUS for load balancing.
Some blocks can also be moved across Hardware (Xilinx-FPGA) and Software boundaries. The System compiler will take care of the necessary interface conversions to allow this to happen.
The hardware projects (Xilinx – IPI project) for both the line cards are generated separately, as well as the software project for the X86.
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Our toolset is available for windows and linux. The generated projects can be compiled for ARM to x86 running FreeRTOS and Linux.
Out of the box, our generated systems are on par with handcrafted solutions optimized by teams of engineers. See our benchmarks here
Visual System Integrator comes out of the box with all the drivers including device, memory and network to make it fast for your to start using it. The included compiler toolchains (powered by Xilinx) makes it painless to go from a concept to running binaries in no time.
Drag and drop C/C++ code blocks between hardware and software and have it instantly work without fumbling with drivers and compiler macros. The system view canvas displays your whole application system, making it easier to understand the big picture of your system. We generate all the plumbing code, makefiles and hardware projects and even automation scripts for faster development cycles.
Visual System Integrator uses a modern interface and focuses on making your development life faster and simpler. We support the full hardware IP catalog from Xilinx so you don't have to fumble between different tools.
What makes Visual System Integrator Unique.
Use a single tool for the complete lifecycle of your product. Design, compile and build your hardware bitstream and software executables. VSI automatically generates drivers and scripts so you can focus on your value-add.
Reduce redundant work and development cost by detaching application design from the hardware. VSI is the only tool that uses two separate design canvases--application system canvas and hardware platform canvas. The hardware designer and the application designer can work on each in parallel. As the hardware designer modifies and adds to the hardware platform--the application designer can incorporate those changes and start utilizing them without having to start from scratch. Additionally, multiple hardware platform canvases let you deploy the product on multiple hardware platforms while keeping the application design intact.
VSI is the only tool that comes with builtin trace. The trace is provided as transaction logs between components and works across hardware and software. No special hardware component is required to enable trace functionality.
VSI is built upon IPI, Xilinx's FPGA design tool. It means a smaller learning curve, a solid and well tested development experience and all the functionality that IP Integrator provides for your platform designs. Additionally, reduce development time by using our design catalogue of hardware platforms for popular development boards.
System View in the news and updates from our team.
Meet Our Team.
System View is working across the industry to enable innovators to accelerate the development life cycle and to enable them to work more efficiently.
We are located in the heart of San Mateo. For general inquiries and sales, you can email us. For support and issue reporting, use our issue tracker. Paid licenses can request priority support through our corporate support channel
