The major benefit of FPGA[]-based prototyping is speed. Running at near real system speeds and utilizing real world interfaces enables accurate and high performance hardware/software validation. It is this performance that makes the platform suitable for hardware/software development, debug, and validation.



Consider a typical chip, there is a need to operate the chip within the context of the complete system, running the full range of software and at speeds that approach real-time. This has to be done before the chip has been fabricated. FPGA-based prototyping is one technology that enables all this, but there are few solutions on the market that bring together all of the necessary hardware and software components to create a complete flow and provide the necessary levels of productivity.



This paper examines the attributes that such a system needs to have and shows how one solution fulfills all of those needs.