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SAR Case Study
9.0 Glossary
- abstraction level
- An indication of the degree of
detail specified about how a function is to be implemented.
- boundary scan
- A structured test technique for testing
digital circuits. It consists of embedding shift registers at every pin
(input/output) of a component so as to control and observe each pin
independent of the internal logic of the component.
- complex numbers
- Complex numbers are entered
as: cmplx(real, imaginary).
- data stream
- Continuous flow of data that is input to
and output from the function boxes.
- data queue
- Input/output queue of a node/ function
box that holds data used during the its execution.
- distributing
- In multi-processor systems, the process
of distributing primitives, or partitions, to different processors on
which they will fire. This is the same as mapping an application.
- family
- A collection of nodes/ graphs or graph variables
with a common data type that is replicated.
- family member
- One instance of the replicated collection
of nodes, graphs, or graph variables that make up a family.
- flat graph
- A graph containing no hierarchy.
- functional test
- A test for the required function of a unit;
for example, the functional test of a multiplier unit could be 4 * 7 =
28.
- GEDAE™
- Graphical Entry, Distributed
Applications Environment, is a tool available from Lockheed Martin, ATL.
- interoperability
- Model interoperability designates that
one model may be connected to other models and have them
function properly. Interoperability requires agreement in interface
structure, data format, timing, protocol, and information
content/semantics of exchanged signals.
- latency
- The time delay between when an activity starts
and completes or reaches an equivalent point. For example,
processing latency is the time between when a piece of data is
applied to a processing system and when the result due to that piece
of data becomes available at the output of the processing system.
- mapping
- In multi-processor systems, the process of
distributing primitives/partitions, to different processors on which
they will fire. This is the same as distributing an application.
- model
- The description of a function, system, or
component that when executed simulates the operation of the
intended function on applied stimuli.
- parameter
- There are two types of DFG parameters, operating
and instantiation. The operating parameter is the variable that is used
as an evaluation constant in a function box. The instantiation
parameter controls the flow of information, such as queue size,
firing granularity, size of graph, memory, and resource allocation.
- partitioning
- The process of dividing an application
into smaller units that will execute in one schedule. All functions in a
partition will execute on the same processor. Each element in a
partition is from the same group.
- requirement
- Necessary and sufficient qualities,
quantities, and functions that a system or component must exhibit.
Requirements may be expressed as functions, specific values,
allowable ranges, or inequalities, such as maximums, minimums.
- reusability
- The degree to which a model,
component, or system may be used again in other instances for
which it may or may not have been specifically intended.
- scheduling
- The process of creating the sequence in
which primitives fire.
- simulation
- The process of applying stimuli to a
model and producing the corresponding responses from the model
(when those responses would occur).
- simulator
- A software program for executing models
within a computer. In the case of VHSIC Hardware Description
Language, the simulator manages the passage of simulated time and
the illusion of concurrent model and process execution.
- specification
- Description of a design solution for a
system that satisfies the system's given requirements in terms of the
requirements for the system's components and resultant
performance of the system.
- synthesis
- The process of creating a representation of a
system at a lower level of design abstraction from a higher level
(more abstract) representation. The synthesized representation
should have the same function as the higher level representation.
- system
- Anything consisting of multiple parts that
performs a function or set of functions.
- subgraph
- A hierarchical set of nodes.
- testbench
- A model or collection of models and/or data
files that applies stimuli to a module under test, compares the
module's response with an expected response, and reports
differences observed during simulation.
- test vector
- A set of values for all the external input
ports (stimuli) and expected values for the output ports of a module
under test.
- threshold
- The amount of data needed in a DFG queue to allow
the function box to fire.
- throughput
- The rate at which the system processes
data. Usually specified as the number of data-elements/ operations
processed per unit time.
- token
- The basic data-flow data element.
- top-down design
- The flow of design-driving
requirements from the abstract function (high-level or top) to the
specific implementation (low-level details or bottom).
Next: 10 References
Up: Case Studies Index
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Page Status: in-review, January 1998
Dennis Basara