Rainer Domer, Andreas Gerstlauer,Paul Kritzinger and Mike Olivarez
Universitiy of California and Motorola

A well-defined design methodology supported by a system-level design language (SLDL) is the key for managing the complexity of the design flow, especially at the system level. Only with well-defined and unambiguous models and transformations can we achieve productivity gains through synthesis, verification and tool interoperability. This paper presents the SpecC system design methodology. It shows how, through gradual, stepwise refinement, a design is taken from specification down to implementation. Finally, it introduces a design example of industrial-strength that has been implemented following the methodology, including the results and productivity gains achieved.

This is the second paper in a two-part series. This part covers the SpecC methodology and its application to an industrial design example, a GSM vocoder.