Novilit Tools Speed Net Infrastructure Development

By Bernard Cole
iApplianceWeb
(07/16/02, 12:15:41 PM EDT)

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.-- Novilit, Inc., has taken the wraps off AnyWare, a next-generation development environment to accelerate the design cycle for embedded communications protocols.

It is designed to be used to develop designs based on a variety of technologies, including application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), network processing units (NPUs), and general-purpose processors (GPPs).

Based on new embedded ommunications and compiler technologies, AnyWare automatically generates a fully portable protocol stack that can produce output in a variety of different formats. It can be used to implement protocols for any network device or product, at any point within the system -- in a central processing unit (CPU), NPU, or digital signal processor (DSP). It can be used to instantiate protocols in ASICs or programmable devices such as FPGAs.

AnyWare is a suite of embedded network and communications protocol development tools, including a protocol definition language, a 40-stage compiler, a code editor, and a test and debug environment.

At the core of the suite is the company's proprietary, high-level language for describing communications protocols -- the Communication Machine Definition Language (CMDL). It allows design teams to develop and maintain a single design source for each protocol. Results can be compiled and implemented into any networking product, regardless of the target architecture.

Another key element is the company's Communication Machine Development Engine (CMDE), a multi-stage compiler that converts CMDL protocol descriptions into working code. To develop a protocol stack, designers convert the protocol specification into CMDL. They then run CMDE, automatically generating code in C, C++, Assembler code, Java, as well as synthesizable VHDL or Verilog. The output is integrated into the design database and ready for implementation, offering designers true "target independence."

Refinements and changes to the design can be made at the chip level by making edits and recompiling the code. Protocol definitions can be shared across multiple platforms, from ASICs and FPGAs to NPUs and GPPs.

Another tool to assist developers is NLEdit, which provides enhanced code creation capabilities within AnyWare. NLEdit includes a smart copy-and-paste feature that enables the auto-creation of code from any standards-based or proprietary specification or abstract.

Finally, Novilit has addressed the test-and-debug phase critical to protocol development with NLView, a full-function protocol analyzer and debug environment. Code generated by CMDE can be tested with a full decode of the protocol as a by-product of the coding effort.

Shipping now, AnyWare perpetual license pricing starts at $95,000 for a team development environment. Time and royalty-based licensing is available upon request. The AnyWare development environment is Windows 2000 and NT based. Support for Sun Microsystems Solaris operating system will be available in the third quarter of 2002.

For more information, go to http://www.novilit.com.