Hardware/Software Co-design for Heterogeneous Multi-core Platforms: The hArtes Toolchain - Tapa dura

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This book describes the results and outcome of the FP6 project, known as hArtes, which focuses on the development of an integrated tool chain targeting a heterogeneous multi core platform comprising of a general purpose processor (ARM or powerPC), a DSP (the diopsis) and an FPGA. The tool chain takes existing source code and proposes transformations and mappings such that legacy code can easily be ported to a modern, multi-core platform.

Benefits of the hArtes approach, described in this book, include:

• Uses a familiar programming paradigm: hArtes proposes a familiar programming paradigm which is compatible with the widely used programming practice, irrespective of the target platform.
• Enables users to view multiple cores as a single processor: the hArtes approach abstracts away the heterogeneity as well as the multi-core aspect of the underlying hardware so the developer can view the platform as consisting of a single, general purpose processor.
• Facilitates easy porting of existing applications: hArtes provides a migration path where either through manual annotation or the use of the tool chain to apply the necessary modifications, one can test on the real platform how the application behaves and, when necessary, repeat the process if the design objective has not been met.
• Enables development of new applications using powerful toolboxes: the hArtes tool chain provides both high level algorithm exploration tools with subsequent, automatic code generation which can then be fed to other toolboxes in the chain.
• Employs an open tool chain architecture: any development tool can be integrated in the tool chain, so users are not locked into a single vendor technology.
• Allows users easily to retarget to new hardware platforms: the same development tools and environments can be used, no matter what hardware platform one targets.
• Maps from fully automatic to fully manual: developers can choose to opt for a full automatic mapping, semi-automatic or even fully manual. At each step, decisions can be evaluated and overruled if considered inadequate.