| [dsdp-dev] VPP And Eclipse - minutes of the first meeting (3rd June 08) |
Short Minutes: Present: Aaron Spear (mentor) Anthony Berent (arm) Kris Keyeyser (CoWare) Gary Delp (LSI) Laurent Gerard (ST) Mark Burton (GreenSocs)Our next meeting is scheduled for 23rd June at 5pm CEST, on the same numbers.
Anthony gave us an overview of IPXACT, and told us about the ARM IPXACT Eclipse editor. Several points were made: Right now, the use case for this editor is to "patch up" missing component descriptions etc, before making use of the components inside a debugger setup (for instance).
IPXATC 1.4 now has a API called the "TGI". This interface would allow an IPXACT editor, and other tools, to share a common IPXACT database, rather than having to move files between them, which would allow for a much neater user interaction - this would require an IPXACT server. - However there are some limitations:
1/ the current TGI is limited in terms of 'write' capabilities.2/ the current TGI is possible too "low level" to be helpful for debuggers.
Gary suggested that SPIRIT would like feedback on the TGI. SPIRIT is in a release phase, where 1.4 will only become ratified once 3 independent tools have used it. Once this is done, work will start on the next revisions, and feedback on the TGI could be taken into consideration then.
Aaron asked what the plans for future developments of the ARM IPXAT editor were - Anthony said nothing much more than today. Aaron suggested that making more of a "framework" would be good, to enable EDA companies to expand the capabilities - Anthony suggested that, for now, he didn't see many more places that there could be "hooks" provided than were already there. Possibly a "navigation" API could be provided. - This was left open.
Laurent talked about the ST addition to the IPXACT editor. Their use model is more viewing than editing, and their extension is for memory maps.
The conclusion from this discussion is one clear candidate that this group should work on - an IPXACT 'server'.
"Business" case:Clearly IPXACT servers exist buried inside EDA tools - however, for many use cases, it is inappropriate to be using an eda tool simply to provide an IPXAC server. The server itself is of little or no value add to the tool.
Here is what I now have in my mind:
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The __KEY__ interoperability interface is the SPIRIT TGI interface.However, to achieve adoption, providing the server, and e.g. the IPXACT editing tool within Eclipse will greatly help.
From the EDA companies point of view, they can choose to adopt the IPXACT server that is an 'exemplar' implementation, or use their own - the choice is theres, and probably invisible to the user. Their own solution may have a much richer interface than the one provided as an exemplar tool - which - at least initially - will be focused on supporting the Eclipse IPXACT tool.
So - this is the "vision" I have. How can we make it a reality?I would encourage informal discussions over the next couple of weeks - I will try and get round to talking to as many of you as I can, by our next meeting I will try to bring some concrete proposals to the table.
Our next meeting is scheduled for 23rd June at 5pm CEST, on the same numbers.
Cheers Mark