Acceleration Plug-In: OnDemand

Overview

Carbon Model Studio’s OnDemand plug-in dramatically and automatically improves the performance of system platforms containing Carbon Models while still retaining 100% cycle accuracy.  OnDemand enables the software developer to debug problems at instruction set simulator speeds and only execute hardware behavior when it is needed.

OnDemand Highlights

OnDemand provides these key benefits:

• Accelerates virtual prototype runtimes
• Reduces model overhead by detecting idle states
• Requires no model recoding
• Maintains cycle accuracy

Without OnDemand, many designers choose to manually limit the number of cycles that models run in order to improve speed. Unfortunately, this can lead to errors and lost cycles. It also requires substantial design knowledge and expertise. OnDemand automatically detects when a peripheral is inactive and disables its execution which in turn increases the throughput of the overall system.

OnDemand Technology

When a design is compiled with OnDemand technology a small amount of monitor logic is automatically included in the model.  This monitor logic tracks the status of all the model inputs and storage elements. 

Whenever the monitor detects that the inputs have stopped changing and the storage elements are either dormant or behaving in a purely cyclic manner, the monitor automatically disables the model until the next time the input stimulus input changes. The result is a model with very little runtime overhead, enabling firmware development platforms to run at instruction set simulator speeds when the model is inactive.