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- Path: news.halcyon.com!usenet
- From: thom@halcyon.com (Thom Randolph)
- Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
- Subject: Re: C -> VHDL
- Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 18:18:24 GMT
- Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.
- Message-ID: <311e31a3.236285851@news.halcyon.com>
- References: <DMAyp6.F06@tumlis.lis.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de> <4f83gc$dg@knot.queensu.ca>
- Reply-To: thom@halcyon.com
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-
- Wintermute <3mal5@qlink.queensu.ca> wrote:
-
- >markusr@tumlis.lis.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (Markus Rettinger) wrote:
- >>Now I am looking for tools especially PD-/Shareware/Freeware tools that convert
- >>C/C+/C++ codes into VHDL.
- >
- >I'm not sure if this is known, but C/C++ is a programming language that
- >compiles to executable code, while VHDL is a hardware description language that
- >'compiles' to a hardware specification.
- >
- >I suppose it's possible such tools exist, but are you sure that's what you
- >want?
- >
- >--
- >Wintermute <3mal5@qlink.queensu.ca> <http://qlink.queensu.ca/~3mal5/>
- >
- >"If I really knew how to write, I could write something that someone
- >could read and it would kill them." - william s. burroughs
- >
-
- Actually, in the hardware design world, since designs are so much more
- complicated now, it is quite common to write a behavioral simulation
- of what you're trying to design. These simulation models can easily
- become very complex. If they are designed in native VHDL from the
- start, then you're stuck with relatively slow executions in order to
- determine if your design will perform correctly. So, very often C
- or C++ is used because it is generally 10 to 1000 times faster than
- a VHDL simulation. But, once the model is functionally correct, it
- must then be converted into a language that actually represents the
- hardware. If the resulting VHDL (or Verilog) doesn't explicitly define
- actual wires and parts (architecture), then it is often synthesized
- from a functional description into actual architecture by another
- tool. So, there is actually a good reason for needing such a tool.
- Since the VHDL simulator often runs $1000s, and the synthesis tools
- often run $10,000s, the ancillary tools such as for converting C to
- VHDL are often not free.
-
- I hope some of this makes sense. Sorry if I ramble....
-
-
- Thom Randolph
- thom@halcyon.com
-
-
-