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Bruno Celso C. de Freitas
Ronnie Elder da Cunha |
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OVERVIEW
The number of transistors per silicon chip has been doubling roughly every 18 months for nearly two decades (according to Moore's law). This exponential growth is expected to continue for several more years, resulting in chips with hundreds of millions of gates. The result is that components (like micro-controllers) that used to occupy entire chips now fit in a tiny corner of a chip, and entire systems that used to occupy boards now fit on one chip (system-on-a-chip). The chip design industry is thus being transformed, as designers buy components as Intellectual Property (IP), also known as cores, and integrate those cores on a single chip.
In order to cope with this new scenario, the main objective of the Fênix project is the establishment of a well defined, and modern IP design methodology by using professional EDA tools and modern techniques for specification, functional verification and rapid prototyping. To increase students’ awareness about IP design (specification, synthesis and verification simulation) and forming professionals with good skills in this area at distinct Brazilian geographical regions, the same methodology is being used for all partners at different cities in Brazil. To have a real example as a case study, our project is focusing on the design of a wireless platform, where each module is being designed by a distinct research group but by using the same methodology. This platform includes microprocessors, wireless interfaces, MP3 and MPEG modules and Peripherals interface.
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