SysML is a UML profile that allows the creation of standard descriptions of a system. However, this profile is too generic to address embedded and real-time system design. The MARTE UML profile attempts to fill this gap by providing elements from both embedded software and hardware engineering. Unfortunately, it remains mainly descriptive in nature, since no commercial tools are available to simulate the models and extract performance data.
CoFluent Design offers the CoFluent methodology for UML to provide comprehensive framework and guidelines for joint use of UML, SysML and MARTE. The methodology offers simulation of multicore/multiprocessor hardware/software embedded system and chip models, enabling designers to observe the system behavior and analyze performance properties. The CoFluent methodology delivers modeling rules and method with tool support.
CoFluent Design's tool support includes:
- CoFluent UML profile extending UML 2.2, SysML 1.1 and MARTE 1.0 profiles
- Integration with leading UML modeling environments
- Link to CoFluent Design's CoFluent Studio SystemC 2.2-based simulation environment for model execution and extraction of performance figures
Fill out the inquiry form to ask for a free online demo of CoFluent Studio and MagicDraw integration.
The link to CoFluent Studio is achieved by model transformation from UML to CoFluent's Ecore-based internal model description. The CoFluent methodology for UML complies with CoFluent Studio's embedded system architecting flow and the MARTE profile's intent that separates the application or functional view from the execution platform view. The execution platform view is often called the hardware resource view.
Hardware/software partitioning is described in a mapping or allocation view, and the resulting allocated view represents the actual embedded software threads executing on the various cores and operating systems that constitute the hardware and firmware. The resulting allocated view is a "virtual system", since it encompasses the full hardware/software system.
Existing virtual platform and virtual prototype environments require the assembly of detailed intellectual property block models. CoFluent Design's virtual system modeling and simulation technology overcomes many of the limitations of virtual platforms since it can be executed before detailed hardware intellectual property block models and embedded software are available. Thus, it removes the inherent limitations due to the availability of the models or their important development time and associated cost. The CoFluent technology also goes beyond traditional UML simulation that does not take into consideration architectural and non-functional performance dimensions such as thread priorities and scheduling, time constraints, bus transactions, memory accesses, power consumption, memory footprint, cost, etc. Virtual systems provide fast and accurate evaluation of various use cases and design scenarios by executing UML specifications and predicting the behavior, performance and power consumption. Accurate prediction is critical for multicore and low-power designs.
CoFluent Studio with UML support enables system designers to store and exchange design information internally and between third parties in a standard format. It allows the delivery of executable specifications and SystemC test cases for further system validation with SystemC-based virtual platform environments.