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language speci
cation language presents the main
objective of designers. Early works are focused on how to faster prototyping speed
with automatization of the Register Transfer Level (RTL) generation process from
the high level behavioural description using commercial tools (Feng et al. 2009 ).
During the last decades, HLS design approaches have been the main subject for
research. Their principal objective is to simplify the accelerators hardware design
by describing applications at high abstraction levels and generating the corre-
sponding description of a low-level implementation. Different studies were focused
to qualify the bene
cation to a hardware speci
ts of implementing HLS methodologies in terms of time-to-
market, execution time and area consumption.
Thangavelu et al. ( 2012 ) evaluate the Model-Based Design approach, using XSG
(Xilinx System Generator). However, Abhinvar compares the HLS approach
(C-Based Design), using Catapuls, with Bluespec design approach, in order to
prove that HLS is the most ef
cient in stage of the design development for fast
prototyping complex systems (Dave et al. 2005). Indeed, it offers reduced design
time and provides a generic design compared to the Bluespec design
ow that
generates hardware code adapted to the performance constraints and resources. The
Rapid prototyping of complex systems are founded on HLS approaches such as C-
Based Design approach (Dave et al. 2005 ), Model-Based Design approach and
Architecture Based Design approach (Cherif et al. 2010 ) to raise their productivity
(from higher levels of abstraction) and their reliability (from automatic code and test
bench generation and more robust test technologies).
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Model Based Design Approach
The Model-Based Design approach accentuates the use of models to increase the
abstraction level of the complex systems (Lingbo et al. 2006 ; Wakabayashi and
Okamoto 2000 ). This approach represents a real process of evolution in the
embedded systems design. The model used, in the systems engineering, includes
safety critical areas such as aerospace, automotive, etc. It is applied not only for the
explanation of algorithms, but likewise, for the generation of VHDL code. The
Model-based design approach level of abstraction is very high, which allows the
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flexibility to add, delete and modify applications in a short design time. Using this
approach, designers can automate the generation, from a model to a synthesized
hardware code (VHDL or Verilog), ready to be implemented on FPGA. Mode-
Based Design approach emphasizes the usage of models to increase the level of
abstraction to design complex systems. It allows the modelization and veri
cation
of each function separately using a low-level language or blocks. The ability to plot
the progress of the application using Model-Based Design presents an advantage to
detect the wrong behaviour. The design model used in the systems engineering,
includes also safety critical domains like aerospace and automotive. One of the
most widely used tools in these domains is Sicos-HDL, FPGA-module (LabView),
Syndex-Ic and XSG.
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