Cadence Solutions accelerates the development of mobile, automotive and hyperscale systems

Article by: Cadence Design Systems Inc.

Helium Virtual and Hybrid Studio from Cadence Design Systems Inc. accelerates the creation of virtual and hybrid prototypes of complex systems. Helium Studio enables early deployment of software for hardware-software co-verification and co-debugging, provides full platform assembly support, enables creation and debugging of virtual models, and offers a rich library of pre-built virtual models and hybrid adapters. Using the system, verifying with a virtual or hybrid model of the SoC is not only orders of magnitude faster than verifying with a pure RTL model, it allows rapid setup of the software before the RTL is available.

Designed to natively integrate with Cadence verification engines, including the Palladium Z2 enterprise emulation platform, the Protium X2 enterprise prototyping platform, and the Xcelium logic simulator, the new Helium Studio accelerates system development by checking the on-board software / firmware on purely virtual and hybrid configurations, even when the RTL is not ready.

Engineers creating next-generation designs, including for mobile, automotive, and large-scale computing applications, must validate the software on a pre-silicon platform to ensure design success and meet time to market. Marlet. Helium Studio enables designers to create high quality virtual and hybrid SoC models. Through native runtime software engine integration with Helium Studio, the Palladium Z2 platform, and the Protium X2 platform, Helium Studio provides software developers with a consistent debugging experience from virtual model to RTL. The Helium Studio includes:

• Virtual studio: The system enables graphical interface based platform assembly for fast and correct platform creation, allowing early implementation of the software. Once the platform is assembled, the virtual studio can be used to run and debug the software stack and hardware design.
• Hybrid studio: The system allows designers to quickly create hybrid configurations using a rich library of hybrid adapters, transactors and intelligent memories that optimize communication channels for maximum throughput and are natively integrated into systems. Palladium and Protium platforms. New shifting technology allows users to hot-swap their software update from virtual to RTL, delivering high speed when needed and high accuracy on RTL engines when needed.
• Virtual model library: The system offers a comprehensive library of virtual models including the latest Arm technology model portfolio, which includes support for Armv9-A, in which designers can access multiple benchmark and hybrid virtual and hybrid platforms. Ready to boot boot on the latest Linux and Android operating systems. systems, speeding up the setup time for new platforms.
• Debugging the embedded software: The system provides uniform and comprehensive multicore and multi-process debugging of embedded software, allowing designers to have better control and visibility over the software through the use of a single debugger that works with software running simultaneously on virtual platforms and RTL platforms. Native software engine integration with virtual and RTL execution engines enables synchronized hardware-software debugging.

“Validating embedded software alongside RTL and earlier in the development process is critical to ensuring the success of next-generation mobile, automotive and hyperscale SoC designs,” said Paul Cunningham, senior vice president and director General of the System & Verification group at Cadence. . “Our new Helium Studio takes advantage of our best verification engines, including the dynamic duo Palladium and Protium, to enable rapid software development and benchmarking for power and performance validation. This new system provides designers with a unified platform that accelerates the overall throughput of verification.

The new Helium Virtual and Hybrid Studio is part of the larger full cadence verification workflow, which includes Palladium Z2 emulation, Protium X2 prototyping, Xcelium simulation, JasperGold formal verification platform and vManager verification management. Cadence’s Complete Checkout Flow delivers the highest bug check throughput per dollar invested per planning day. Helium Studio and the full verification workflow support the company’s intelligent systems design strategy, enabling systems innovation.

Related