Software simplifies SystemC-based development

The latest SystemCrafter SC SystemC package has been developed to make it far easier to manage and develop SystemC projects, and also simpler for new users to get started with SystemC synthesis.

Version 2.0 of the award-winning SystemCrafter SC SystemC package has been developed to make it far easier to manage and develop SystemC projects, and also simpler for new users to get started with SystemC synthesis.

SystemCrafter SC automatically synthesises hardware designs written in SystemC to VHDL.

The VHDL can then be used with commonly available tools to target Xilinx FPGAs.

This enables engineers and programmers to design, debug and simulate hardware and systems using their existing C++ development environment.

The new GUI has the look and feel of standard software compiler GUIs that will be familiar to both hardware and software engineers.

The intuitive design flow enables automatic integration with the user's C compiler for simulation and handles the management of all a project's files.

Build options are stored and the tool automatically selects the correct input files for system simulation, gate-level simulation and VHDL generation.

Jonathan Saul, CEO of SystemCrafter, commented: "This new version is part of the ongoing development of SC, with features being added based on feedback from the hundreds of evaluators and users".

The price of the tool is $2995 for a perpetual licence and includes support and maintenance for Version 2.

The package can be purchased direct from www.systemcrafter.com, and a free evaluation version of SystemCrafter SC can be downloaded and used for 30 days.

Discounts are available for students and universities.

There is a natural synergy between SystemCrafter's software and FPGA development boards.

If you have SystemCrafter SC installed, and an FPGA development board plugged into your computer, you can literally go from an empty C++ project to working hardware prototype in hours.

SystemCrafter SC is available with the ZestSC1 FPGA development board developed by Orange Tree Technologies.

This board has a High Speed 480Mbit/s USB interface.

The FPGA is the Xilinx Spartan-3 with up to one million logic gates, and there is also up to 8Mbyte of SRAM.

The board is provided with full software support for Windows and Linux, together with example logic cores for all the FPGA interfaces for use with SystemCrafter SC.

The price for Zest SC1 is from $275, depending on FPGA type and memory size.

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