Identifying Data

2019/20

Subject (*)

Hardware/Software Co-Design

Code

614G01031

Study programme

Grao en Enxeñaría Informática

Descriptors

Cycle

Period

Year

Type

Credits

Graduate

2nd four-month period

Third

Optional

Language

Spanish

Galician

English

Teaching method

Face-to-face

Prerequisites

Department

Enxeñaría de Computadores

Coordinador

Rodriguez Osorio, Roberto

E-mail

roberto.osorio@udc.es

Lecturers

Rodriguez Osorio, Roberto

E-mail

roberto.osorio@udc.es

Web

General description

A meirande parte dos sistemas informáticos actuais son sistemas embarcados nos que o deseño do hardware e do software son inseparables. Nestes sistemas, o conxunto é maior que a suma das partes e, do mesmo xeito, o proceso de deseño e comprobación non está restrinxido aos seus compoñentes hardware e software, senón que tamén inclúen a interface entre os dous. Esta materia aborda o mundo do codeseño centrándose en aspectos tales como: computación reconfigurable; modelado de sistemas; e procesadores de aplicación específica.

Study programme competencies

Code	Study programme competences
A31	Capacidade de deseñar e construír sistemas dixitais, incluíndo computadores, sistemas baseados en microprocesador e sistemas de comunicacións.
A32	Capacidade de desenvolver procesadores específicos e sistemas embarcados, así como desenvolver e optimizar o sóftware dos ditos sistemas.
B1	Capacidade de resolución de problemas
B3	Capacidade de análise e síntese
C7	Asumir como profesional e cidadán a importancia da aprendizaxe ao longo da vida.

Learning aims

Learning outcomes	Study programme competences
To understand the principles, methods and tools essential to hardware-software codesign		B3	C7
To know the main techniques for designing reconfigurable hardware, understanding their advantages and limitations	A31		C7
To learn to decide which methods and algorithms should be implemented in software, and which ones on hardware. To know to realize the interface between both.	A32	B1 B3
To get to know which design scenarios would benefit of a solution based on reconfigurable hardware		B1 B3

Contents

Topic	Sub-topic
Fundamentals and Platforms for hardware/software codesign	Definition of codesign Application-specific hardware and reconfigurable hardware
Hardware/Software Codesign	Transaction and data flow level modeling Time-accurate modeling
Data-flow and control-flow modelling	Data -flow modeling and implementation Analysis of Control Flow and Data Flow
Application-specific instruction-set processors	Accelerators and coprocessors Systems on a chip (SoC)

Planning

Methodologies / tests	Competencies	Ordinary class hours	Student’s personal work hours	Total hours
Laboratory practice	A31 A32 B1	14	34	48
Supervised projects	A31 B1 B3 C7	7	25	32
Objective test	B1 B3	3	0	3
Guest lecture / keynote speech	A31 A32 C7	21	42	63

Personalized attention		4	0	4

(*)The information in the planning table is for guidance only and does not take into account the heterogeneity of the students.

Methodologies

Methodologies	Description
Laboratory practice	Labs: A set of guided lab tasks will be assigned to the students. The aim is practicing the basic procedures of the subject and reflecting on them. The topic of the labs is linked to the guided projects.
Supervised projects	Guided projects: Students must work in small groups to complete hardware/software codesign projects. During the seminars, project coordination will be carried out, where the progress of each project will be assessed. However, most of the work must be done by the students in an autonomous way.
Objective test	Final test: A written test, lasting up to 3 hours, must be passed by the end of the course.
Guest lecture / keynote speech	Lectures: They will be focused on the different topics of the subject. The progress of the lectures will define the scheduling of the labs and seminars. When possible, the professor will ask students to study a given topic in advance. Then, the professor will use class time to explain practical use cases.

Personalized attention

Methodologies

Laboratory practice

Supervised projects

Description

Personalized attention is crucial for guiding the students when doing exercises, performing the labs, and working on projects. Moreover, it will also serve to validate and grade their work.

Assessment

Methodologies	Competencies	Description	Qualification
Laboratory practice	A31 A32 B1	Labs: Grading will take into account both attending the sessions and fulfilling the tasks. It must be remarked that the labs are fundamental for accomplishing the objectives of the guided projects.	30
Supervised projects	A31 B1 B3 C7	Guided projects: The quality of the obtained results will chiefly define the mark. However, participating in the discussions about the different projects will be also assessed.	20
Objective test	B1 B3	Test: At the end of the course, a written test will be evaluated the level of knowledge on the contents of the subject.	50

Assessment comments
Those part time students that are exempt of attending lectures, must still produce the results of the labs in one week after the session in which the lab was proposed. These students must also find time and ways of collaborating with their team partners in order to develop the supervised project.

Sources of information

Basic	Patrick R. Schaumont (2010). A Practical Introduction to Hardware/Software Codesign. Springer David C. Black e Jack Donovan (2004). SystemC: From the ground up . Kluwer Academic Publishers Peter J. Ashenden e Jim Lewis (2008). The Designer's Guide to VHDL, Third Edition (Systems on Silicon). Morgan Kaufmann

Complementary	Jayaram Bhasker (1999). A VHDL Primer . Prentice Hall Wayne Wolf (). Computers as Components, 2nd edition. Principles of Embedded Computing System Design. Morgan Kaufmann

Recommendations

Subjects that it is recommended to have taken before

Fundamentals of Computers/614G01007

Computer Structure/614G01012

Concurrency and Parallelism/614G01018

Subjects that are recommended to be taken simultaneously

Hardware Devices and Interfaces/614G01032

Subjects that continue the syllabus

Embedded Systems/614G01060

Other comments

(*)The teaching guide is the document in which the URV publishes the information about all its courses. It is a public document and cannot be modified. Only in exceptional cases can it be revised by the competent agent or duly revised so that it is in line with current legislation.