Want to start writing code for the two ARM Cortex-A9 processors on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 EPP right now? Virtual Platform makes it possible

As of today, you can start to develop application software for the Xilinx Zynq-7000 family of Extensible Processing Platforms (EPP) using a virtual prototyping platform announced today and jointly developed by Xilinx and Cadence. The virtual platform provides an accurate modeling target and includes models for the two on-chip ARM Cortex-A9 processor cores, the  peripherals, memory and I/O built into the EPP as hard cores. Significantly, you can also model anything placed into the Zynq-7000 EPP’s FPGA fabric using transaction-level models (TLM), which is an inherent capability of the underlying Virtual System Platform technology taken from the Cadence System Development Suite. TLM is based on SystemC and it is a fast modeling method. Way, way faster than RTL or gate-level simulation. Fast enough to boot Linux in a usable amount of time.

Oh, by the way, Xilinx announced a version of Linux for the Zynq-7000 EPP today as well.

If you are fortunate enough to be attending ARM TechCon 2011 being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center today or tomorrow, you can now see this new Virtual Platform for the Xilinx Zynq-7000 EPP in action. (But you could not have seen it yesterday, the first day of the event.) Timing, as they say, is everything.

For more information on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 series of EPPs, see:

“Xilinx Zynq EPPs based on two ARM Cortex-A9s create a new category that fits in among SoCs, FPGAs, and microcontrollers”  

And

“Xilinx Zynq EPPs create a new category that fits in among SoCs, FPGAs, and microcontrollers”

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