Challenges in System-Level Design

This paper summarizes some of the challenges presented by very large integrated circuits. Today’s embedded applications require not just complex algorithms but multi-tasking systems that perform several different types of operations on the data. Those applications are run on systems-on-chips that embody complex, heterogeneous architectures. Furthermore, systems-on-chips are connected into even larger systems. The large amounts of state in systems- on-chips, along with the interactions between traditional functionality and performance, mean that we must expand the scope of system design and verification activities. We still need to solve all the traditional design problems, but we must also develop new methodologies that allow us to design and verify the long-term behavior of the system.