CoWare Introduces First Ever Checkpoint / Restart Capability for Native SystemC Virtual Platforms

CoWare®, Inc., the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services, announced today the first ever checkpoint / restart capability for native SystemC Virtual Platforms. Debugging is generally accepted as the most time consuming phase of the development process. This new capability provides unprecedented debugging productivity for software developers by letting them focus on the execution sequence where the software bug occurs which is simply not possible using physical hardware boards.

Checkpoint / restart enables CoWare Virtual Platform users to save the state of their simulation at any point in time and restart the simulation from this state for their next simulation run or at a later date. This results in the developer being able to focus on the execution area of interest without having to re-execute the already-validated code. For example, application developers can start their simulation with the operating system already booted and their application ready to execute. Repeated over multiple developers, this capability can save months of unproductive simulation time.

“Our research indicates that the market for virtual platforms for software development is the fastest growing segment of the ESL space,” said Matt Volckmann, senior analyst/program manager, Venture Development Corporation, a technology research firm located in Natick, Mass. “In order to be successful, solution vendors will have to offer more than just fast simulation speeds. CoWare’s introduction of the checkpoint / restart capability for a native SystemC/TLM simulator is an example of the company’s commitment to support advanced simulation and productivity features through a standards-based approach.”

Today, CoWare’s native SystemC Virtual Platforms execute at speeds of several hundred millions of instruction per seconds and even faster than real-time. However, with so much time spent debugging, debugging throughput is the true measure of the software developer’s productivity. Higher debugging throughput is achieved through more efficient debugging and analysis capabilities provided by CoWare Virtual Platform tools, and now through its simulation checkpoint / restart capability.

“The implementation of checkpoint / restart is a direct result of listening to our customers’ concerns and their need for better debugging solutions,” said Marc Serughetti, vice president of marketing and business development at CoWare. “Using CoWare’s standards-based technology, our customers can now access capabilities that drastically improve their productivity. It proves that the modeling of virtual platforms using SystemC and TLM scales to the needs of software development.”

Availability

The checkpoint / restart capability is available with CoWare Virtual Platform and with the Software Development option for CoWare Platform Architect. The capability is available on Windows® now with Linux support to follow later this year.

About CoWare

CoWare is the leading global supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services. IP, semiconductor, and electronics companies use CoWare ESL 2.0 solutions to design better processor- and software-intensive products -- faster. CoWare solutions solve the new design challenges associated with platform architecture design, platform verification, application sub-system design, processor design, DSP algorithm design, and software development, and are based on open industry standards including SystemC. These solutions also enable IP and semiconductor companies to implement more effective go-to-market strategies. CoWare’s corporate investors include ARM [(LSE:ARM); (NASDAQ:ARMHY)], Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS), STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE). CoWare is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has offices around the world. For more information about CoWare and its products and services visit http://www.coware.com.

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