What format should we use to input address maps and registers? From spreadsheets to industry formats for specifying register and address map information, combined with widely differing uses of that information across the team, it can be overwhelming trying to decide what to do. Can we pull the register information from RTL or use the UVM-RAL definition? What is IP-XACT? Let’s use spreadsheets, everyone understands those! A single source of truth for specifying the HSI that is persistent throughout the design process is essential for success.

In this short workshop, we will showcase the various industry standards and input formats around registers and the hardware/software interface (HSI). We will discuss the strengths and the shortcomings of these options. We will discuss which ones make sense for authoring HSI and which ones should be generated.

Rich Weber, Jamsheed Agahi, Josh Rensch, and Eric Sherk, Semifore, an Arteris company