Method for providing access to the internal signals of a dynamic system model from outside the modeling environment

• US 20040078181A1
• Filed: 10/16/2002
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Allen, Richard Craig, Coverstone, Randy A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,103,526 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30

Abstract

A method for exposing the internal signals of a system model or software model of a dynamic system to a client application outside the original modeling environment is provided. A designer of the system model is provided with a way to select internal signals of the system model in order to expose those internal signals to other computer applications external to the modeling environment. Such computer applications are then able to access the internal signals by way of interfacing software while the system model is being exercised within the modeling environment, or while a software model based on the system model is executed outside of that environment.

Claims

1. A method for exposing at least one internal signal of a model of a dynamic system to a client application residing outside a modeling environment, comprising:

providing a designer of the model the ability to select from within the modeling environment the at least one internal signal to be exposed; and

allowing access from the client application, by way of interfacing software, to the at least one internal signal selected by the designer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the model is a system model defined within the modeling environment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the model is a software model based on a system model defined within the modeling environment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of generating a system model.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of generating a software model based on the system model.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing step is performed by way of providing communication functional blocks employable by the designer to decorate the model, with one of the communication functional blocks being associated with each of the at least one internal signals of the model selected by the designer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the interfacing software comprises:

a Component Object Model (COM) server executable configured to provide for the client application access to the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model; and

a block support Dynamic Link Library (DLL) configured to expose the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks to the COM server executable.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the interfacing software further comprises:

an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) generator configured to generate an XML file that provides to the COM server executable a COM interface definition of the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model.

9. A computer system for exposing at least one internal signal of a model of a dynamic system to a client application residing outside a modeling environment, comprising:

means for providing a designer of the model the ability to select from within the modeling environment the at least one internal signal to be exposed; and

means for allowing access from the client application, by way of interfacing software, to the at least one internal signal selected by the designer.

10. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the model is a system model defined within the modeling environment.

11. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the model is a software model based on a system model defined within the modeling environment.

12. The computer system of claim 9, further comprising means for generating a system model.

13. The computer system of claim 12, further comprising means for generating a software model based on the system model.

14. The computer system of claim 9, wherein the providing means is performed by way of communication functional blocks employable by the designer to decorate the model, with one of the communication functional blocks being associated with each of the at least one internal signals of the model selected by the designer.

15. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the interfacing software comprises:

a Component Object Model (COM) server executable configured to provide for the client application access to the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model; and

a block support Dynamic Link Library (DLL) configured to expose the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks to the COM server executable.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the interfacing software further comprises:

an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) generator configured to generate an XML file that provides to the COM server executable a COM interface definition of the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model.

17. A program storage medium readable by a computer system, embodying a program executable by the computer system to perform method steps for exposing at least one internal signal of a model of a dynamic system to a client application residing outside a modeling environment, the method steps comprising:

providing a designer of the model the ability to select from within the modeling environment the at least one internal signal to be exposed; and

allowing access from the client application, by way of interfacing software, to the at least one internal signal selected by the designer.

18. The program storage medium of claim 17, wherein the model is a system model defined within the modeling environment.

19. The program storage medium of claim 17, wherein the model is a software model based on a system model defined within the modeling environment.

20. The program storage medium of claim 17, the method steps further comprising the step of generating a system model.

21. The program storage medium of claim 20, the method steps further comprising the step of generating a software model based on the system model.

22. The program storage medium of claim 17, wherein the providing step is performed by way of providing communication functional blocks employable by the designer to decorate the model, with one of the communication functional blocks being associated with each of the at least one internal signals of the model selected by the designer.

23. The program storage medium of claim 22, wherein the interfacing software comprises:

a Component Object Model (COM) server executable configured to provide for the client application access to the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model; and

a block support Dynamic Link Library (DLL) configured to expose the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks to the COM server executable.

24. The program storage medium of claim 23, wherein the interfacing software further comprises:

an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) generator configured to generate an XML file that provides to the COM server executable a COM interface definition of the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model.

25. A software system for exposing at least one internal signal of a model of a dynamic system to a client application residing outside a modeling environment, comprising:

communication functional blocks employable by a designer to decorate the model, with one of the communication functional blocks being associated with each of the at least one internal signals selected by the designer; and

interfacing software configured to allow access by the client application to the at least one internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks.

26. The software system of claim 25, wherein the model is a system model defined within the modeling environment.

27. The software system of claim 25, wherein the model is a software model based on a system model defined within the modeling environment.

28. The software system of claim 25, wherein the interfacing software comprises:

a Component Object Model (COM) server executable configured to provide for the client application access to the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model; and

a block support Dynamic Link Library (DLL) configured to expose the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks to the COM server executable.

29. The software system of claim 28, wherein the interfacing software further comprises:

an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) generator configured to generate an XML file that provides to the COM server executable a COM interface definition of the internal signals associated with the communication functional blocks of the model.