KR100297551B1 - Apparatus and method for hardware/software co-emulating by supporting multi-function module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A device and method for a hardware/software co-emulator is provided to validate and manufacture a prototype after manufacturing a design at low cost by emulating a software and a hardware at the same environment, changing and appending each function module necessary for a user easily, and making a library based on modules according to each filed and function. CONSTITUTION: A microprocessor unit(10) emulates a control signal for managing the total system and a portion designed by a software and processes information being transmitted at the interior and the exterior. A ROM(20) is existed in a memory bank, operates the micro processor unit(10), and loads a ROM BIOS for generating a control signal for controlling an external interface port using the micro processor unit(10). A RAM(30) is existed in the memory bank, supplies a memory space necessary for operating the microprocessor unit(10) and the ROM(20), and emulates a software design by downloading a software designed program using an external interface. A programmable IC chip(40) constructs logic and an I/O port necessary for the system in real time. Information in the system is transmitted to a necessary place through an address and data bus(50), a control bus(60), a serial port(70), and a parallel port(80). A top board standard I/O interface unit(90), an extension board programmable I/O interface unit(99), the serial port(70), and the parallel port(80) are operated by controlling an I/O terminal of the programmable IC chip(40), the address/data bus(50), and the control bus(60) by the micro processor unit(10) and a ROM BIOS program included in a system program at the ROM(20) in the memory bank.

Description

Apparatus and method for hardware / software co-emulating by supporting multi-function module}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for a hardware / software co-emulator that supports a multi-function module, and more particularly to a fast time for emulating hardware and software of an electronic system using a programmable IC and a microprocessor. An apparatus and method for a hardware / software co-emulator supporting a multi-function module that can be verified within the present invention.

In general, the process of designing and verifying an electronic system combining hardware and software is performed by hardware emulator verification and software verification by software emulator. The separate and software emulator devices were not only inconvenient, but also cost a lot of time and money.

In addition, when the emulator system is configured on-board and not implemented in the emulator used by the user's demand, there is always a burden of separately producing the functional unit required by the user. There was no graphical user interface in the computer environment, so each function had to be emulated on a separate device.

Conventional Microprocessor Development System (MDS) was used as a device to verify the program in real time when designing a microprocessor application system, and the hardware emulator (H / W Emulator) designed the hardware system to verify in real time. It is used as a device.

However, since the equipment of the programmable IC unit and the microprocessor development system (MDS) board is separated for each function, it is inconvenient to use at the same time, and it is difficult to emulate like a board having two or more different functions, and the microprocessor and the programmable Since the IC unit is on-board together, the system can not be arbitrarily changed to the system that the user wants to implement, so there is no function of co-emulatoring hardware and software at the same time. The interface (GUI) or the programmable IC unit and the microprocessor unit are supported together, and there is a problem in that there is no function supporting the board-to-board interface driver.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to emulate and verify hardware and software in the same environment when designing and verifying an electronic device, and each function required by a user. Modules can be easily added and modified, and the modules for each function can be libraryized and supported as necessary, so that the design, verification and prototyping can be carried out quickly, accurately and at low cost in an integrated environment according to a consistent process. It provides a device for a hardware / software co-emulator that supports multiple function modules.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hardware / software co-emulator implementation method that supports multi-function modules that are particularly suitable for carrying out the device.

1 is a system configuration of a base station board supporting a multi-function module according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of a base station board according to an embodiment of the present invention configured as a daisy chain multiboard; FIG.

3 is a flow diagram illustrating a hardware / software co-emulator implementation method in accordance with the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: microprocessor unit 20: ROM (ROM)

30: RAM 40: Programmable IC Chip

50: Address & Data bus

60: control bus 70: serial port

80: Parallel port

90: standard I / O interface unit for the top board

99: Programmable I / O interface unit for extension board

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a microprocessor unit for emulating a control signal and software designed part for managing the entire system; A ROM existing in a memory bank and having a ROM BIOS configured to operate the microprocessor unit 10 and generate a control signal for controlling external interface ports using the microprocessor. ROM (20); present in the memory bank and provides a memory space required for the microprocessor unit 10 and the ROM (ROM) 20 to operate, and downloads a software designed program using an external interface RAM 30 for emulating a design; A programmable IC chip 40 for emulating a hardware design by downloading data designed in hardware from an interface; An address and data bus 50 and a control bus 60 for emulating the microprocessor unit 10 and the programmable IC chip 40 simultaneously and transmitting and receiving signals to and from each other. ); A parallel port 70 and a serial port 80 which receive data from an external personal computer or other device, transmit the data to an external device, or communicate with each other via a base station board (BSB); A standard I / O interface unit 90 for the top board for interfacing with an external library-ized unit function module; And an expandable board programmable I / O interface designed to allow a user to define input and output characteristics as needed for input / output interfaces between the base station board (BSB) in addition to the standard I / O interface unit 90 for the top board. Provided is an apparatus for a hardware / software co-emulator that supports a multi-function module, comprising:

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention (a) initializes the base station board (BSB) and the graphical user interface (GUI) supporting the multi-function module according to the emulation target (S1), and the hardware (H / W). Separating the portion from the software (S / W) (S2) and checking whether the hardware is a portion (S3); (b) designing hardware in the hardware part (S4), and reading the designed hardware data into a graphic user interface (GUI) controlling a base station board (BSB) to perform hardware emulation (S5); (c) check the hardware emulation (S6), if the hardware emulation is not done, return to the hardware design step (S4) and execute it again; if the hardware emulation is complete, the hardware / software co-emulation is performed. Checking if necessary (S7) and waiting for hardware / software co-emulation; (d) performing a software emulation by loading a software program into the GUI after S10 is coded in a software design process from step S3 of checking whether the software part is the hardware part (S11); (e) Check the software emulation (S12) and if it is wrong, return to the software coding step (S10), and if the software emulation is complete, check if hardware / software co-emulation is needed (S13) and if necessary hardware and software Executing Co-emulation (S8) of S8 and ending if not necessary; And (f) if the co-emulation (S8) of the hardware and software is completed successfully, terminating the emulation process, and if it is wrong, returning to the emulator initialization step and starting again, and the external interface can be variously constructed. Board level using the standard I / O interface through an interface for mounting a base station board using a standard I / O interface and a library type top board and extension board with additional functions The present invention provides a hardware / software co-emulator embodying method supporting multi-functional modules, which is characterized by a significant improvement in hardware / software design by building a hardware and software library system for each functional module.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a base station board (BSB) device supporting a multi-function module according to the present invention.

The system configuration diagram includes a microprocessor unit 10, a ROM 20 and a RAM 30, a programmable IC chip 40, an address and data bus 50 present in a memory bank. ), Control bus 60, serial port 70, parallel port 80, standard I / O interface unit 90 for top board, programmable I / O interface unit for extension board And a graphical user interface (GUI) and CAD tools in a computer environment for controlling and running the system.

The first action that the system of the present invention performs is a hardware / software co-emulation function that supports multiple functional modules.

The programmable IC chip 40 of the base station board (BSB) is read through the serial port 70 or the parallel port 80 by reading hardware data or software designed in the CAD tool or software development environment into the computer GUI software. Hardware emulation is performed by communicating with a computer, and hardware software emulation is performed, and software data compiled and programmed in a computer software development tool environment is immediately read into a GUI software environment, and the base is connected through the serial port 70 or the parallel port 80. Co-emulation of hardware / software of the base station board (BSB) is performed by communicating with the microprocessor unit 10 of the station board (BSB) to perform software emulation for driving the microprocessor unit (10). can do.

In addition, the system for a hardware / software co-emulator according to the present invention is software data designed in a software development tool environment of a computer, using hardware / software co-emulation (Co-emulation) using external hardware through the parallel port 80. It is possible to emulate different types of processors or programmable ICs individually or in combination.

Referring to FIG. 3, a hardware and software co-emulation method supporting multi-function modules is described as follows. The base station board (BSB) and the graphical user interface (GUI) supporting the multi-function module are initialized according to the emulation target (step S1), and the hardware (H / W) part and software (S / W) The part is separated (step S2) and it is checked whether it is the hardware part (step S3). If it is the hardware part, hardware is designed (step S4), and the designed hardware data is read into a graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling the base station board (BSB) to perform hardware emulation (step S5).

Check the hardware emulation (step S6), if the hardware emulation is not done, return to the hardware design step (step S4) and execute it again.If the hardware emulation is complete, whether hardware / software co-emulation is necessary. Check (step S7) to wait for hardware / software co-emulation.

The software portion is coded in the software design process (step S10) from the step of checking whether it is the hardware portion (step S10) and then loaded into the GUI to perform a software emulation.

If the software emulation is checked (step S12) and if it is wrong, it is returned to the software coding process (step S10). If the software emulation is completed, it is checked whether hardware / software co-emulation is necessary (step S13). Co-emulation (Step S8) is executed and ends if not necessary. If the co-emulation (step S8) of the hardware and software is wrong, the process returns to the emulator initialization step and restarts, and when the completion is successful, the emulation process ends.

The second function performed by the system is to implement various efficient input / output systems through the serial port 70, the parallel port 80, a standard input / output bus terminal and a programmable expansion bus terminal.

The input / output (I / O) function to be implemented in the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the structure of the base station board (BSB).

Referring to FIG. 1, apparatuses for hardware / software co-emulators supporting multi-function modules are classified into four types.

The microprocessor unit 10 emulates a control signal and software designed part for managing the entire system and processes information transmitted in and out of the system.

The ROM 20 resides in a memory bank and operates the microprocessor unit 10 to generate a control signal for controlling external interface ports using the microprocessor unit 10. It is equipped with ROM BIOS which is configured.

The RAM 30 resides in the memory bank and provides a memory space required for the microprocessor unit 10 and the ROM 20 to operate, and uses a software designed program using an external interface. Download and emulate software design.

The programmable IC chip 40 configures the logic and I / O ports required by the system in real time. Information in the system is transferred to the I / O portion through the address & data bus 50, the control bus 60, the serial port 70, and the parallel port 80. It plays the role of delivering to the place where it is needed.

Implementation of an efficient input / output system operating in the system of the present invention is implemented by the ROM bios program included in the microprocessor unit 10 and the system program in the ROM 20 in the memory bank. Standard I / O bus for the top board by controlling the I / O terminal of the programmable IC chip 40, the address & data bus 50, and the control bus 60 It is executed by driving the interface unit 90, the programmable I / O interface unit 99 for the expansion board, the serial port 70, the parallel port 80 and the like.

The standard I / O interface unit 90 for the top board is provided with the address and data bus 50 and the control bus 60 in a standardized pinout and from the I / O terminals of the programmable IC chip 40. Programmable pins are added to allow the bus structure signal and control signal to be properly combined and interfaced.

The expansion board programmable I / O interface unit 99 is mainly connected to the I / O terminal of the programmable IC chip 40 so that the I / O terminal can be changed in real time, and two or more base station boards ( BSB) can be extended to daisy-chain to connect multiple boards.

The serial port 70 and the parallel port 80 communicate with a computer GUI and support an emulation function. The parallel port 80 has an IEEE 1284 standard Extended Capabilities Port (ECP) mode and an Extended Parallel Port (EPP). Support for mod drivers. Two or more base station boards (BSBs) may be connected to a multi board in a daisy chain format.

In order to configure the multi-base station board (BSB), the parallel port 80 may be used, the programmable I / O bus interface unit 99 for the expansion board may be used, and both may be used. As shown in Figure 2 it can be implemented by the basic configuration of the multi-board.

The top board may mount various kinds of application systems using the standard I / O bus interface unit 90 for the top board in the base station board (BSB). The top board includes the programmable IC chip 40, the microprocessor unit 10, the digital signal processing (DSP) board, or analog, which is a field programmable gate array (FPGA) module, which is various circuit elements that can form an electronic system. It can be configured as a digital application unit and emulated together using the designed data.

The operation of the hardware / software co-emulator system according to the present invention has an operation mode of a stand-alone mode and a multi-board mode.

The single board mode is operated using one base station board (BSB) and an additional top board. The entire process is performed as shown in FIG. 3.

The entire system is divided into a hardware unit and a software unit, the software unit is developed using a programming compiler development environment of a PC, and the hardware unit is designed using an EDA (Electronic Design Automation) -CAD tool.

The designed data is read from the integrated graphic user interface software (GUI S / W) of the hardware / software co-emulator system. For each part, the hardware unit is the programmable IC chip 40 and the software is the RAM 30 to the board. It will be downloaded and run.

Referring to FIG. 2, the multi-board mode includes a plurality of base station boards when a system is to be configured using two or more of the microprocessor unit 10 or the programmable IC chip 40. (BSB) can be connected to form a complex and large system.

In the case of the multi-board mode, the basic design method requires the following additional process for determining the communication and connection method between the base station boards (BSB) after completing the process as shown in FIG.

The communication method is determined by 1) a daisy chain method using a parallel port 80 and 2) a configurable extension I / O interface unit method.

1) When using parallel port 80

The unique ID of each base station board is determined, the communication environment software is configured using the ROM BIOS routine, the host board which manages the whole is determined, and the software of the microprocessor of each base station board is downloaded.

2) using a configurable extension I / O interface unit;

Write and download FPGA configuration program according to I / O pin of each base station board and characteristics of I / O pin.

◎ How to use both interface methods 1) and 2)

a) Divide the parallel port 80 and the FPGA to use.

b) Interface configuration with parallel port 80

c) configurable extensional connector configuration

d) Part and interface channel configuration using a configurable extensional connector using parallel port 80 and FPGA

The hardware and the Graphical User Interface (GUI) operating in the computer, the microprocessor and the software stored in the hardware are configured to be coupled to each other and the software sequence operation is performed as shown in FIG.

Therefore, it is possible to implement a base station board device and a hardware / software co-emulator supporting multi-function modules.

As described above, an apparatus and method for a hardware / software co-emulator supporting multi-function modules according to the present invention includes a number of integrated graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and driver software that can emulate hardware and software simultaneously. Function modules can be easily combined to form a board-level interface bus structure that composes the desired system, allowing easy integration of each functional system and co-design and emulation of hardware and software simultaneously.

In addition, by using a standardized bus and variable interfaces to easily design and emulate different types of programmable IC chips and microprocessors and various types of function modules, developers can greatly expand the range and ease of use. And verify the operation results in real time, greatly reducing development time. Supporting functional module library enables easy system design and configuration. When developing products by diversifying various types of system modules into functional solutions by top boards, expansion boards, and software packages. Prototyping time can be shortened and used as a training kit for training electronic systems.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below. It will be appreciated.

Claims (4)

A microprocessor unit 10 for emulating a control signal and software-designated minutes for managing the entire system; A ROM existing in a memory bank and having a ROM BIOS configured to operate the microprocessor unit 10 and generate a control signal for controlling external interface ports using the microprocessor. ROM) 20; It emulates a software design that exists in the memory bank and provides a memory space required for the microprocessor unit 10 and the ROM 20 to operate, and downloads a software designed program using an external interface. RAM 30 for making; A programmable IC chip 40 for emulating a hardware design by downloading data designed in hardware from an interface; The microprocessor unit 10 and the programmable IC chip 40 emulate hardware and software at the same time, and transmit and receive signals from each other, including an address and data bus 50 and a control bus. Control bus 60; A parallel port 70 and a serial port 80 which receive data from an external personal computer or other device, transmit the data to an external device, or communicate with each other via a base station board (BSB); A standard I / O interface unit 90 for the top board for interfacing with an external library-ized unit function module; And Programmable I / O interface unit for expansion board designed to allow user to define input and output characteristics as needed for input / output interface between base station board (BSB) in addition to the standard I / O interface unit 90 for top board Apparatus for a hardware / software co-emulator supporting a multi-function module, characterized in that consisting of (99). The method of claim 1, Configure mutual interconnection between units so that the microprocessor unit 10 and the programmable IC chip 40 can be emulated together, and the programmable unit and the hardware unit using the parallel port in an external computer. Driver software to communicate with control signals and the Graphical User Interface (GUI) to emulate When the two or more base station boards (BSB) are connected to each other, the parallel port 80 of the first base station board (BSB) 100 and the parallel port 180 of the second base station board device 200 are connected. A programmable I / O interface for the expansion board of the first base station board (BSB) 100 and an expansion board for the expansion board of the second base station board (BSB) 200. The unit 199 is connected in a daisy chain manner, and the Nth (N is an integer of 3 or more) base station board (BSB) is also connected in the daisy chain manner, such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processing (DSP) board, Multi-function model using integrated graphical user interface (GUI) software that can design and verify the heterogeneous system and hardware / software, such as the FPGA module, respectively or combined. Hardware / software co-supporting-apparatus for the emulator. (a) Initialize the base station board (BSB) and the graphical user interface (GUI) supporting the multi-function module according to the emulation target (S1), and separate the hardware (H / W) and software (S / W) parts. (S2) checking whether it is the hardware part (S3); (b) designing hardware in the hardware part (S4), and reading the designed hardware data into a graphic user interface (GUI) controlling a base station board (BSB) to perform hardware emulation (S5); (c) check the hardware emulation (S6), if the hardware emulation is not done, return to the hardware design step (S4) and execute it again; if the hardware emulation is complete, the hardware / software co-emulation is performed. Checking if necessary (S7) and waiting for hardware / software co-emulation; (d) performing a software emulation by loading a software program into the GUI after S10 is coded in a software design process from step S3 of checking whether the software part is the hardware part (S11); (e) Check the software emulation (S12) and if it is wrong, return to the software coding step (S10), and if the software emulation is complete, check if hardware / software co-emulation is needed (S13) and if necessary hardware and software Executing Co-emulation (S8) of S8 and ending if not necessary; And (f) If the co-emulation (S8) of the hardware and software is successfully completed, the step of terminating the emulation process and returning to the emulator initialization step if the error is completed is restarted, and a standard capable of constructing various external interfaces. A base station board using I / O interface and an interface to mount top boards and extension boards in the form of libraries with additional functions. A method of implementing a hardware / software co-emulator that supports a multi-function module, which is to dramatically improve hardware / software design by building a hardware and software library system for each function module. The method of claim 3, wherein A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the steps (a) to (f) on a computer.