Accellera approves new VHDL Standard: News from Accellera

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Accellera, the electronics industry organisation focused on electronic design automation standards, announced that its members approved a new VHDL standard, a VHDL Applications Programming Interface (API) known as VHPI. This standard was transferred to the IEEE for their consideration as an amendment to the VHDL standard, IEEE Std 1076-2002, earlier this month. VHPI provides a formal, object-oriented informational model of a VHDL design as it is processed by a VHDL tool.

It provides comprehensive access to post-analysis, post-elabouration, and runtime information through a compact C-language API.

This is useful for building non-native VHDL models and applications that are portable from simulator to simulator.

Applications enabled by the VHPI include library and post-analysis applications such as browsers and lint tools and applications such as debugging, results-recording and co-simulation that extend a simulation environment.

'Our proven working relationship with the IEEE helps us speed the process of VHDL ratification by the IEEE,' remarked Shrenik Mehta, chairman of Accellera.

'We have plans in place to continue to work on more VHDL updates and to support the standard as it goes through the IEEE standardisation process'.

'Thanks goes to the VHPI technical team, lead by Francoise Martinolle, for their effort in bringing this work to Accellera and then to the IEEE VHDL Analysis and Standardization Group (VASG) for ratification,' said Jim Lewis, IEEE VASG Chair.

'With Accellera putting its financial and technical support behind VHDL, it has been enjoyable to watch the energy within the EDA user and vendor communities grow'.

Lance Thompson, Accellera's VHDL Technical Committee (TC) Chair added, 'The VHPI work represents another successful Accellera-backed standardization effort'.

'The Accellera VHDL Technical Committee (TC) has put forward additional VHDL revisions for Accellera's approval at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) in July, 2006'.

'The Accellera VHDL TC will host an open meeting at DAC to discuss additional work plans'.

'We encourage all companies to join Accellera and help further our work through Accellera's membership-based funding model'.

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Accellera approves new VHDL Standard

Accellera approves new VHDL standard, an applications programming interface to improve design portability