Scale4Edge
Static hardware/software analyses in the context of scalable edge computing platforms
Start: 05/2020
End: 12/2025
Scale4Edge reduces the currently extensive development times and high development costs for application-specific edge components. The approach is based on providing an ecosystem for a scalable and flexibly expandable edge computing platform based on the free RISC-V instruction set architecture.
Verification of the entire hardware/software system is significant for application-specific, flexible edge computing platforms. Software development, for example, often falls back on assumptions about the hardware that are difficult to verify, as the hardware is only available as a closed system (black box). Nevertheless, statements about the hardware behavior must be considered during software verification. Scale4Edge investigates an approach considering the mutual interaction in HW/SW co-verification.
The approach’s core is the behavioral description, a description format that formally specifies assumptions about the hardware/software interaction. With the ‘verify-down’ tool, these assumptions can be automatically included in both the static software analysis and the formal hardware verification using Bounded Model Checking.
Via the domain-specific language CHIPS, the generator-based design process of RISC-V platforms is enhanced by a lightweight option for specifying hardware properties in a hardware generator. Utilizing the provided transformations, CHIPS properties can be automatically transferred to, e.g., SystemVerilog assertions.
Combining these approaches allows for comprehensive verification of the hardware/software system
Safety, Security and Law
Um die sichere Digitalisierung zu ermöglichen, erforscht und vermittelt das FZI in diesem Forschungsschwerpunkt anwendungsnah innovative Konzepte, Methoden zur Absicherung von IT-Systemen sowie rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen.
Sustainable Engineering and Energy
This research focus includes the research and design of sustainable IT innovations in the cross-sectional areas of energy, mobility, production, water management, and logistics. This involves developing systems that promote the ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable use of resources, and providing strategic consultancy services to companies, particularly SMEs, on their path to greater sustainability.
