Systemc From The Ground Up

Systemc From The Ground Up:The first quesTIon any reader should ask is “Why this book?” We decidedto write this book after learning SystemC and after using minimal documentsto help us through the quest of becoming comfortable with the language’sfiner points. After teaching several SystemC classes, we were even moreconvinced that an introductory book focused on the SystemC language wasneeded. We decided to contribute such a book.This book is about SystemC. It focuses on enabling the reader to masterthe language. The reader will be introduced to the syntax and structure of thelanguage, and the reader will also learn about the features and usage ofSystemC that makes it a tool to shorten the development cycle of largesystem designs.We allude to system design techniques and methods by way of examplesthroughout the book. Several books that discuss system-level designmethodology are available, and we believe that SystemC is ideally suited toimplement many of these methods. After reading this resource, the readershould not only be adept at using SystemC constructs efficiently, but alsohave an appreciaTIon of how the constructs work together and how they canbe used to create high performance simulaTIon models.We believe there is enough informaTIon to convey about the SystemClanguage to justify this stand-alone book. We hope you agree. We alsobelieve that there is enough material for a second book that focuses on usingSystemC to implement these system-level design methods. With reader encouragement, the authors hope to start on a second book that delvesdeeper into the application of the language (after recovering from the writingof this book).Prerequisites for this BookAs with every technical book, the authors must write the contentassuming a basic level of understanding; this assumption avoids repeatingmost of an engineering undergraduate curriculum. For this book, weassumed that the reader has a working knowledge of C++ and minimalknowledge of hardware design.For C++ skills, we do not assume that the reader is a “wizard”. Instead,we assumed that you have a good knowledge of the syntax, the objectorientedfeatures, and the methods of using C++. The authors have foundthat this level of C++ knowledge is universal to current or recent graduateswith a computer science or engineering degree from a four-year university.Interestingly, the authors have also found that this level of knowledge islacking for most ASIC designers with 10 or more years of experience. Forthose readers, assimilating this content will be quite a challenge but not animpossible one.For readers without any understanding of C++ or for those who may berusty, we recommend finding a good C++ class at a community college ortaking advantage of many of the online tutorials. For a list of sources, seeChapter 15. We find (from our own experience) that those who have learnedseveral procedural languages (like FORTRAN or PL/I) greatlyunderestimate the difficulty of learning a modern object-oriented language.To understand the examples completely, the reader will need minimalunderstanding of digital electronics.