1. IP-XACT and Eclipse DSPD VPP launch meeting
Anthony Berent
ARM Ltd

2. What is IP-XACT?
Developed by The SPIRIT Consortium (
Originally developed for delivering IP descriptions of components to EDA tools, and for exchanging IP descriptions of designs between EDA tools:
Now starting to be used in other contexts, including the description of debugger targets.
An IP-XACT description of a design or component consists of a set of XML documents referring to one another:
Main document types are:
Design – A high level description of a design
Component – A description of a component type, including interfaces, memory maps, and registers
Bus Definition – A description of a bus type.
References between IP-XACT document are by 4 element identifier (vendor, library, name and version; often abbreviated to VLNV).
IP-XACT also defines an interface for generators, which are utilities called up from Design Environments to process IP-XACT data.

3. IP-XACT design descriptions
Component X Instance
Design
Bus interface M
Interconnection
Bus interface MM
Bus interface MS
Component B (bus component) instance
Bus interface MS
Interconnection
Interconnection
Bus interface S
Bus interface S
Component Y Instance 1
Component Y Instance 2
Main elements of IP-XACT designs:
Component instances referencing IP-XACT component documents
Point to point interconnections between bus interfaces of component instances.

4. IP-XACT component descriptions
Main elements of components are:
Bus interfaces, referencing bus definitions to describe the bus type
Memory maps, including register descriptions
Physical signal descriptions
Views, referencing non-IP-XACT data or lower level designs.
Memory map map1
Bus interface B1
Bus type X
Slave
Bus interface B2
Bus type Y
Master
Register R0
Register R1
Component
Signal map
Signal Map
Signals
Physical signal Sig1
Physical signal Sig2
Physical signal Sig3
View A
View B
View C
Reference to associated data (e.g. RTL model)
Reference to associated data (e.g. drivers)
Reference to Lower Level Design (IP-XACT Design Document)

5. IP-XACT bus definitions
Bus definitions contain:
A list logical bus signals:
Includes signal direction, width, etc.
mapped onto physical signals in components by the signal maps in bus interfaces
Other connection restrictions:
E.g. The maximum number of bus masters and slaves.

6. IP-XACT generators
Generators are tool independent utilities that process IP-XACT component or design data
Design rule checkers
Documentation generators
Sometimes distributed with IP-XACT components (and referenced by them)
The Tight Generator Interface (TGI) defines remote procedure calls that run over SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol):
Programming language independent
Defined using WSDL
Provides access to DE’s model
No other communication allowed between generator and DE
2. DE invokes generator
Design Environment
Generator
4. Generator creates other output
Other
Output
1. User requests generator invocation
3. Generator makes TGI calls to read and modify DE’s model of the current design

7. The SPIRIT Consortium membership
Contributing
Members
Board of
Directors
Associate
Reviewing
Moxon
Design

8. IP-XACT versions Most widely implemented version is IP-XACT 1.2:
Released Summer 2006
Only supports RTL component interfaces
There is no IP-XACT 1.3!
IP-XACT 1.4 was released in March 2008:
Includes support of transactional component interfaces for ESL modeling
Some significant enhancements to RTL support
Uses Tight Generator Interface (TGI) for generators
User guide rewritten as formal standard:
Probably easier to follow than 1.2 user guide

9. IP-XACT and Eclipse DSPD
What is IP-XACT?
IP-XACT for debug, and the IP-XACT editor
VPP and IP-XACT discussion

10. Using IP-XACT for embedded debug
In the old days embedded systems were simple:
One processor
One bus (maybe two)
A few peripherals
The only debug hardware (if any) was a breakpoint unit on the processor.
Hence easy to describe to debugger

11. Using IP-XACT for embedded debug
Embedded systems are now much more complicated:
Many processors (sometimes dozens!)
Many buses
Many peripherals
(Sometimes) lots of debug hardware:
E.g. ARM’s CoreSight debug peripherals and buses.
Difficult to describe to debugger

12. Using IP-XACT for embedded debug
We need a language for describing systems to debuggers.
IP-XACT fits well:
Already exists
Describes most of what debuggers need to know
Hardware and debugger neutral
Can be created by hardware design tools.
Can be converted to proprietary debugger formats, or used directly by debuggers as their format.
The SPIRIT Consortium have created a Debug Working Group to support this activity
Eclipse DSDP have chosen to use IP-XACT as their standard way of describing embedded targets.

13. Data-flow between Design Teams
IP Components
IP vendor
ARM CPU
DSP
ETB
DAP
TRACE FUNNEL
Other IP
PERIPHERALS
Component I/O and memory map information as a IP-XACT XML File
System designer
ARM CPU
DAP
Other tools:
IP-XACT editor
Proprietary tools
Autodetect from SoC
ROM, RAM
EDA / ESL Tools
ETM
DSP
CTI
PERIPHERALS
FUNNEL
SoC
PERIPHERALS
Topology and System Memory Map Description as IP-XACT XML
Software developer
Debugger
Emulator
Reads programmer’s
model from IP-XACT files
Reads debug access
descriptions from IP-XACT files

14. Why develop an editor for IP-XACT?
IP-XACT was originally developed as a standard for exchanging data between EDA tools:
Typically large expensive tools (~ $1,000s per seat)
Often assume that IP-XACT component descriptions are supplied by IP suppliers, hence have no tools for component description creation.
When IP-XACT used for debug target description:
EDA tools may not be conveniently available.
IP-XACT design flow may not be complete.
New components and designs may need to be described (or descriptions enhanced).
Hence an IP-XACT editor would be valuable.
Also useful for other IP-XACT users:
ARM and other IP vendors: for creating and editing component descriptions.

15. What does the IP-XACT editor do?
Provides Enhanced and Customized XML editor
Automatically uses IP-XACT schema
Some context sensitive knowledge of IP-XACT semantics, used to give editing hints.
Provides view of IP-XACT library:
VLNVs of IP-XACT documents may not correspond to file name or folder structure.
Library view sorts documents by vendor, library, name and version.
Library objects can be dragged to the editor window to create new references to them:
Components can be dragged into designs to create new component instances
Bus definitions can be dragged into components to create new bus interfaces.

16. What does the IP-XACT editor do?
Searches for and displays uses of and references to IP-XACT documents.
Includes references window and search window.
Provides Wizards for:
Creating new IP-XACT documents
Inserting new elements into IP-XACT documents
Includes IP-XACT semantic checker to check (mainly cross document) rules that are not enforced by IP-XACT schema.

17. The IP-XACT Editor

18. The IP-XACT editor – current status
Initial work contributed to DSDP/DD early 2007
Europa (Eclipse 3.3) includes early preview version:
IP-XACT 1.2 only
Other limitations
Ganymede (Eclipse 3.4) includes late preview version:
Functionality basically complete
Support for IP-XACT 1.4
Full release (1.0) will be in DSDP/DD November release:
Will tidy up and formalize APIs
Intended to make reuse and extension easier.
No significant functional changes from Ganymede version.
All work to date contributed by ARM.

19. VPP and IP-XACT discussion
What does VPP want to provide for IP-XACT support, and relationship to needs of DSDP/DD. Possibilities include:
API providing some level of abstraction of IP-XACT (what level?)
TGI server, or server framework
TGI library for generator
Improved (graphical?) editing or analysis tools for IP-XACT
How does the IP-XACT work relates to other VPP work?
How do DD's IP-XACT work and VPP's IP-XACT work relate?
Offers of participation in the IP-XACT work.