Flow to HDL
Flow to HDL tools and methods convert flow-based system design into a hardware description language (HDL) such as VHDL or Verilog. Typically this is a method of creating designs for field-programmable gate array, application-specific integrated circuit prototyping and DSP[clarification needed] design. Flow-based system design is well-suited to field-programmable gate array design as it is easier to specify the innate parallelism of the architecture.
History
The use of flow-based design tools in engineering is a reasonably new trend. Unified Modeling Language is the most widely-used example for software design. The use of flow-based design tools allows for more holistic system design and faster development. C to HDL tools and flow have a simillar aim, but with C or C-like programming languages.
Applications
Most applications are ones which take too long with existing supercomputer architectures. These include bioinfomatics, CFD,[clarification needed] financial processing and oil and gas survey data analysis. Embedded applications that require high performance or real-time data processing are also an area of use. System-on-a-chip design can also be done using this flow.
Examples
- Xilinx System Generator from Xilinx
- StarBridge VIVA from StarBridge Systems