Structural Component Composition for System-Level Models

Abstract

There are many frameworks for high-level modeling of system-on-chip architectures. Most offer a virtual-to-concrete architecture paradigm and a tradeoff in efficiency vs. convenience. We present a framework that implements a split-programming model to provide a composition environment with a type abstraction, close to a “box-and-arrow” specification style. From an abstract specification of component interconnections, a structural type inference is used to produce architectures that can be simulated. We highlight the importance of reflection and introspection to provide component type abstraction. We show the structural type resolution problem to be {NP}-complete, present a heuristic to solve it and conclude with a packet switch example.