An Advanced version of each Beach Solutions® product is available and provides auto-generation of both printed and web-based documents and a graphical difference utility for comparing the memory map descriptions of an SoC (System-On-Chip) and derivatives.

During SoC development, changes are often made to the hardware or software specification as a project progresses. A lack of communication between the teams can cause serious problems during the subsequent system integration phase when the hardware and software designs are re-united.

The Advanced version of a product leads to substantial productivity increases as the SoC documentation is auto-generated and then distributed to all members of the project team. In addition, changes to the underlying register values are formally managed using a database difference engine.

Document auto-generation

The document generators available in the Advanced package auto-generate “correct-by-construction” documentation early in the project for an SoC, embedded system or peripheral device. These documents are maintained automatically as the design evolves.

Consider the manual process of writing 3 new and 10 updated pages per day, which is a typical example. Whereas, Beach Solutions document auto-generation delivers a full document in minutes.

HTML

HTML documents are auto-generated enabling project teams to share memory map information on a company intranet at an early stage, even before coding and verification has started.

RTF

RTF documents are auto-generated allowing project teams to spend less time documenting the design and more time implementing and verifying the design. The RTF generators interface with Microsoft® Word® allowing customer-facing datasheets to be built from auto-generated document sections.

PDF

PDF documents are auto-generated for the technical publications team, in a style and format that is ready for distribution to internal and external users.

MIF

MIF documents are auto-generated containing SoC register and interface descriptions that may be maintained within Adobe® Framemaker®.

Hardware view

The Advanced version provides HTML, RTF, PDF or MIF design document auto-generation containing a hierarchical description of each IP block and subsystem in an SoC. Intuitive bus and port interconnection diagrams supply immediate visualization of the overall design.

Software view

The Advanced version provides HTML, RTF or PDF document auto-generation containing the complete software memory map for an SoC. A top-level interconnection diagram presents all of the components visible to a particular bus master that provides an instant picture of the memory map.

Sequence view

The Advanced version provides HTML document auto-generation providing a straightforward description of the dynamic interaction between registers in an SoC. Flowchart diagrams are auto-generated to communicate the operational sequences between registers in an IP block to members outside of the design team.

Document content and style control

The content of the auto-generated document files is highly configurable:

• Single document for an entire design, for each located core or for a standalone core.
• Exclusion of particular section types, data objects or reserved data objects.
• Insertion of external data into generated output, e.g. timing diagrams.

Support for Unicode (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji) in the description fields means that team communication across global sites is greatly improved.