High-level modeling and exploration of a powerline communication network based on System-on-Chip

Abstract

This chapter will present the application of MULTICUBE methodology to the design of a ITU G.hn compatible component for powerline communication. Powerline communication is an advanced telecommunication system allowing fast and reliable transfer of audio, video and data information using the most ubiquitous transmission system: the power lines. This transmission line is used to exchange information between different equipment connected to the network using the advanced coding techniques like such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing. The starting point of the analysis is a high level SystemC-based virtual platform where we will study the effect of the variation of a pre-defined set of design parameters on a set of pre-defined metrics. This automatic analysis will drive the design choices in order to build an optimized industrial system.We will show that the SystemC-based virtual platform combined with the MULTICUBE design space exploration framework can save up to 80% of designer work time while achieving better results in terms of performance.