Transaction-level modeling

Transaction-level modeling (TLM) is an approach to modelling complex digital systems by using electronic design automation software. TLM language (TLML) is a hardware description language, usually, written in C++ and based on SystemC library. TLMLs are used for modelling where details of communication among modules are separated from the details of the implementation of functional units or of the communication architecture. It's used for modelling of systems that involve complex data communication mechanisms. Components such as buses or FIFOs are modeled as channels, and are presented to modules using SystemC interface classes. Transaction requests take place by calling interface functions of these channel models, which encapsulate low-level details of the information exchange. At the transaction level, the emphasis is more on the functionality of the data transfers – what data are transferred to and from what locations – and less on their actual implementation, that is, on the actual protocol used for data transfer. This approach makes it easier for the system-level designer to experiment, for example, with different bus architectures (all supporting a common abstract interface) without having to recode models that interact with any of the buses, provided these models interact with the bus through the common interface. However, the application of transaction-level modeling is not specific to the SystemC language and can be used with other languages. The concept of TLM first appears in system level language and modeling domain. Transaction-level models are used for high-level synthesis of register-transfer level (RTL) models for a lower-level modelling and implementation of system components. RTL is usually represented by a hardware description language source code (e.g. VHDL, SystemC, Verilog). In 2000, Thorsten Grötker, R&D Manager at Synopsys was preparing a presentation on the communication mechanism in what was to become the SystemC 2.0 standard, and referred to it as "transaction-based modeling".

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