Complexity is the major problem in the electronics design automation (EDA) industry. Today's vastly complex electronic designs present problems at all stages of the design flow – in specification, in implementation and in verification. In addition, software is now a major part of many electronic designs, so hardware/software co-design causes further problems.

Abstraction is often suggested as a way of controlling complexity, however increasing the level of abstraction diminishes the practical aspects of design – leading to bad design choices that result in poor-quality hardware. What is needed is not just abstraction, but a flow which bridges the gap between an abstract specification and the low-level implementation.

In the software engineering and systems engineer fields, that bridge is provided by model-driven engineering and UML. Model-driven engineering formalises the use of models in the design process, so modelling is used from the earliest stages of the design flow. As the fidelity of the models increases, design decisions are increasingly realistic, until finally the model becomes the implementation. UML is the de-facto standard modelling language in the software engineering and systems engineering domains. Axilica's technology brings UML to the electronics hardware industry, by providing tool support for model-based electronic design and hardware/software co-design.

With Axilica's tool-set, designs can be simulated or immediately realised in hardware at any stage in the refinement process – whether it's the rapid prototyping and partitioning of a high-level design, or the realisation of a complete hardware/software system-on-chip. The technology integrates with existing electronic design flows and also supports the generation of transaction-level

models for high-speed simulation.

Axilica provides an effective low-effort route to market for today's highly complex electronic systems.