SystemC AMS extensions: new language – new methods – new applications

This special session at the PATMOS 2009 conference presented the emerging system-level modeling language for embedded analog/mixed-signal systems: the SystemC AMS extensions. The AMS extensions target system-level design at architecture level, enabling true analog/digital co-design where AMS and digital HW/SW subsystems can be simulated together in an efficient manner. The first talk, presented by Martin Barnasconi from NXP Semiconductors, addressed the standardization effort in the Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI) AMS Working Group to formally define the language constructs, syntax and execution semantics for this new language. Due to the open source nature of the SystemC language and AMS extensions, it allows the creation of new design and modeling methodologies. In the second talk, presented by Markus Damm from the Technical University of Vienna, the usage of SystemC-AMS for the design of run-time reconfigurable, heterogeneous systems was explained. The various AMS application domains where SystemC-AMS modeling can be applied were presented in the third talk, by Karsten Einwich from Fraunhofer IIS/EAS. The use of SystemC-AMS for the design and verification of Complex Analog/Mixed-signal Systems-on-a-chip has been motivated, showing the benefits of this new AMS modeling language.