Transaction-level modeling: Difference between revisions

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'''Transaction-level modeling''' (TLM) is a high-level approach to modeling digital systems where details of communication among modules are separated from the details of the implementation of functional units or of the communication architecture. Communication mechanisms such as buses

or FIFOs are modeled as channels, and are presented to modules using [[SystemC]] interface classes. Transaction requests take place by calling interface functions of these channel models, which encapsulate low-level details of the information exchange. At the transaction level, the emphasis is more on the functionality of the data transfers - what data are transferred to and from what locations - and less on their actual implementation, that is, on the actual protocol used for data transfer. This approach makes it easier for the system-level designer to experiment, for example, with different bus architectures (all supporting a common abstract interface) without having to recode models that interact with any of the buses, provided these models interact with the bus through the common interface.<ref>T. Grötker, S. Liao, G. Martin, S. Swan, System Design with SystemC. Springer, 2002, Chapter 8., pp. 131. ISBN 14020707211-4020-7072-1 (quoted with permission)</ref>

However, the application of transaction-level modeling is not specific to the SystemC language and can be used with other languages. The concept of TLM first appears in system level language and modeling ___domain <ref>L. Cai, D. Gajski, Transaction Level Modeling: An Overview, in proceedings of the Int. Conference on HW/SW Codesign

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on the communication mechanism in what was to become the [[SystemC]] 2.0

standard. Gilles Baillieu, then a corporate application engineer at [[Synopsys]],

insisted that the new term had to contain "level", as in "[[register transfer level]]" or "behavioral level". The fact that TLM does not denote a single level of abstraction but rather a modeling technique didn't make him change his mind. It had to be "level" in order to make it stick. So it became "TLM", and it stuck.{{FactCitation needed|date=March 2008}}

The Open SystemC Initiative was formed to standardize and proliferate the use of the SystemC language. That organization is sponsored by major EDA vendors and user customers sharing a common interest in facilitating tool development and IP interoperability. The organization developed the OSCI simulator for open use and distribution.