Data driven method and system for monitoring hardware resource usage for programming an electronic device

• US 6,785,881 B1
• Filed: 11/19/2001
• Issued: 08/31/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Infineon Technologies AG)
• Original Assignee: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Infineon Technologies AG)
• Inventors: Bartz, Manfred, Zhaksilikov, Marat, Ogami, Kenneth Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAVIS, JOHN Q
• Application Number:
  US09/989,815
• Time in Patent Office: 1,016 Days
• Field of Search: 717/110
• US Class Current: 717/110
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

A data driven method and a system for monitoring resource usage for programming a microcontroller. The microcontroller design system includes a configuration and design system with integrated datasheet information and having three independent, but integrated workspaces to provide a programmer an organized way of displaying configuration and design information. The three workspaces include a user module selection workspace, a user module placement workspace and a user module pin out workspace for allowing the programmer to select desired function components for a target microcontroller device. The configuration and design system includes data files that specify hardware resources that are tracked as the designer selects user modules to program the microcontroller. Resource usage values are cumulatively tracked and displayed interactively in a resource manager workspace to enable the designer to keep constant track of the type of resources and the amount of resources used.

Claims

1. A electronic device configuration system, comprising:

a device editor sub-system for editing the programming of components of said electronic device, said device editor sub-system comprising;

a user module selection workspace for providing selection of a plurality of pre-defined user modules that can be programmed into said electronic device;

a data driven resource monitoring system comprising

a resource manager workspace for tracking real-time resource usage of programmable hardware resources used by said selected user modules, wherein resource usage characteristics to be tracked are selected by a user.

2. The electronic device configuration system of claim 1, further comprising

a plurality of data file modules defined for each of said user modules for specifying resource usage characteristics of said user modules.

3. The electronic device configuration system of claim 2, wherein said data file modules are pre-defined with said selected characteristics of said user module.

4. The electronic device configuration system of claim 2, wherein said selected user module characteristics are interactively added to said data file module during the design of said electronic device.

5. The electronic device configuration system client of claim 1, wherein said resource manager workspace comprises a histogram workspace that displays said resource usage by resource type for said selected user modules.

6. The electronic device configuration system of claim 5, wherein said histogram workspace is interactively updated with resource usage of said selected user modules as said user modules are selected by said user module selection workspace.

7. The electronic device configuration system of claim 5, wherein said resource manager workspace further comprises a component tracking workspace for displaying said selected user module resource usage characteristics specified in said data file module.

8. The electronic device configuration system of claim 7, wherein said programmable hardware resources comprise analog and digital programmable resources.

9. The electronic device configuration system of claim 8, wherein said programmable hardware resources further comprise read and write memory resources.

10. The electronic device configuration system of claim 9, wherein said programmable hardware resources further comprise read only memory resources.

11. The electronic device configuration system of claim 10, wherein said hardware resources further comprise power consumption resources.

12. The electronic device configuration system of claim 2, wherein said data file modules are XML formatted data.

13. The electronic device configuration system of claim 1, further comprising a resource monitor display generator for automatically generating cumulative values for each of a specified hardware resource to be tracked in said resource manager workspace based on data representing said selected user modules.

14. A device editor system for programming a microcontroller device having programmable resources, comprising:

a user module selection workspace for providing a plurality of selectable pre-configured user modules to be programmed into said microcontroller device;

a data driven resource monitoring system for providing data representing selected resource characteristics of selected user modules;

a resource manager workspace for tracking real-time resource usage of said selected user modules based on said monitoring system, wherein resource usage characteristics to be tracked are selected by a user; and

a database for storing pre-defined resource usage information of said user modules.

15. The device editor system of claim 14, further comprising a plurality of data file modules defined for each of said user modules for specifying selected resource usage characteristics of said selected user modules.

16. The device editor system of claim 15, wherein said data file modules are pre-defined with said selected characteristics of said user modules.

17. The device editor system of claim 15, wherein said data file modules are represented in XML data.

18. The device editor system of claim 14, wherein said resource manager workspace comprises a graphical histogram display that displays said resource usage by said specified characteristics of said selected user modules.

19. The device editor system of claim 18, wherein said histogram display is interactively updated with resource usage of said selected user modules as said user modules are selected.

20. The device editor system of claim 18, wherein said resource manager display further comprises a component tracking display for displaying said selected user module resource usage characteristics specified in said data file module.

21. The device editor system of claim 19, wherein said programmable resources comprise analog and digital programmable resources.

22. The device editor system of claim 21, wherein said programmable resources further comprise read and write memory resources.

23. The device editor system of claim 22, wherein said programmable resources further comprise read only memory resources.

24. The device editor system of claim 23, wherein said programmable resources further comprises power consumption resources.

25. The device editor system of claim 14, further comprising a resource monitor display generator for generating cumulative values for each of a specified hardware resource to be tracked in said resource manager workspace.

26. A data driven method for designing a system on a chip comprising:

a) selecting a user module from a series of catalogs of user module types found in a user module selection workspace, wherein said selecting causes display of datasheet information regarding said selected user module;

b) placing said user module within a graphical representation of a hardware resource of a programmable circuit and using a user module placement workspace comprising a graphical layout of hardware resources of said programmable circuit; and

c) interactively monitoring hardware resource usage information of said selected user module when said user module is selected from said series of catalogs of user module types, wherein resource usage characteristics to be monitored are selected by a user.

27. A method as described in claim 26, further comprising a providing data file for cumulatively providing said hardware resource usage information of said selected user module.

28. A method as described in claim 27, further comprising generating cumulative hardware resource usage values for display based on resource requirements of said selected user modules.

29. A method as described in claim 27, wherein said c) comprises updating of a histogram workspace displaying said hardware resource usage and wherein said user module selection workspace comprises said histogram workspace.

30. A method as described in claim 29, wherein said c) further comprises

displaying and automatically updating a first textual tabular grid of total hardware resources available for said selected user modules.

31. A method as described in claim 30, wherein said c) further comprises

displaying and automatically updating a second textual tabular grid of the number of hardware resources used out of said total hardware resources available for said selected user modules.

32. A method of programming an electronic circuit having programmable resources, said method comprising:

a) selecting a user module from a plurality of user modules, wherein each user module defines an electronic circuit design to be implemented using a portion of said programmable resources and wherein each user module has defined a respective data file describing its resource requirements;

b) based on a user module selection, automatically updating a resource monitor display illustrating resource usage of said electronic circuit by selected user modules, wherein resource usage characteristics to be monitored are selected by a user; and

c) rendering said resource monitor display.

33. A method as described in claim 32 wherein said resource monitor display comprises a histogram comprising distinct graphical images for each resource type of said programmable resources.

34. A method as described in claim 33 wherein said data files are formatted in extensible markup language (XML) data.

35. A method as described in claim 32 wherein said b) and said c) are performed by an automatic resource monitor display generator accepting a first data input describing resource requirements for selected user modules and a second data input describing said programmable resources.

36. A method as described in claim 32 wherein said electronic device is a microcontroller and wherein said programmable resources are programmable analog and digital resources.

37. A method as described in claim 36 wherein said programmable resources further comprise memory.