Unified Chip Specification for Automated Hardware Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern chip hardware designs require significant manual effort to verify correct usage under different system configurations, leading to potential errors and inefficiencies, especially when connecting chips via interfaces like PCI or PCIe, which is time-consuming and prone to overlook issues.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and device that determines interface configurations based on a unified specification to automatically generate hardware designs, including hardware-level connections between chip interfaces, reducing manual operations and errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual operations are used to determine chip interface configurations and generate hardware designs, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but time consumption and error rates increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-configuration by automatically determining interface configurations based on the unified specification and system design, eliminating the need for manual intervention. The computer automatically generates hardware designs and firmware code, allowing the system to serve itself in the design process.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical operations (human designers manually configuring interfaces and writing firmware) are replaced by an automated computer-based system that uses algorithms and unified specifications to generate hardware designs and firmware code automatically.
2Reliability
If manual operations are used to verify chip usage under different system configurations, then comprehensive checking is possible, but significant time and manual effort are required
Solution Approach 1:
Manual verification processes are replaced by automated computer-based verification that systematically checks chip usage against the unified specification, ensuring comprehensive validation without manual time investment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides automated feedback by verifying whether the generated hardware design and firmware configuration correctly implement the system design requirements, allowing immediate detection and correction of errors.
3Adaptability or versatility
If firmware is developed and integrated according to hardware design manually, then customization is possible, but the process becomes time-consuming and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
Manual firmware development and integration is replaced by automated firmware generation that uses the unified specification and hardware design information to produce customized firmware code automatically, maintaining adaptability while dramatically improving productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified specification serves multiple functions by simultaneously defining hardware interface configurations and guiding firmware generation, allowing the same specification to drive both hardware and software development processes.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed aspects relate to facilitating system design based on unified chip specification. It can be determined based on the system design that a first interface of a first chip is to be connected to a second interface of a second chip. Then a first configuration of the first interface and a second configuration of the second interface are determined based on a unified specification. The unified specification at least specifies configurations of a plurality of chip interfaces for respective usages. A hardware design may be automatically generated based on the first and second configurations. The hardware design may include a hardware-level connection between the first and second interfaces.