Michel P. Schellekens (National University of Ireland, Cork )

Towards predictable software-hardware co-design

In this talk we outline new ideas towards the design of predictable software-hardware co-design. Predictable computing is required in a variety of applications, including safety-critical systems and low-power design. For the case of low-power design, minimizing average power is crucial. We will show how both software and hardware can be designed in a modular way such that the average-case cost of computing amounts to a linear combination of the average-cost of the basic components. As such, for modular software-hardware co-design based on these principles, the average cost of computing can be analyzed in a straightforward way, circumventing costly simulation.