System level design paradigms: Platform-based design and communication synthesis

Embedded system level design must be based on paradigms that make formal foundations and unification a cornerstone of their construction. Platform-Based designs and communication synthesis are important components of the paradigm shift we advocate.Communication synthesis is a fundamental productivity tool in a design methodology where reuse is enforced. Communication design in a reuse methodology starts with a set of functional requirements and constraints on the interaction among components and then proceeds to build protocols, topology, and physical implementations that satisfy requirements and constraints while optimizing appropriate measures of efficiency of the implementation. Maximum efficiency can be reached when the communication specifications are entered at high levels of abstraction and the design process optimizes the implementation from this specification. Unfortunately, this process is very difficult if it is not cast in a rigorous framework. Platform-Based design helps define a successive refinement process where each step can be carried out automatically and optimized appropriately. We present two cases, an on-chip and a wireless sensor network design, where the resulting methodology gave encouraging results.