Patent ID: 7050958

Claim:
A computer implemented method for simulating a system design containing at least two components, said method comprising: identifying said components: creating models of said components in a high level general purpose programming language; creating a set of function calls in said high level general purpose programming language; combining said models to form a virtual prototype; linking one of said models with another of said models using said set of function calls; executing said virtual prototype, wherein said models communicate through a transaction based interconnect using said set of function calls and cycle accurate information is generated; wherein said generating cycle accurate information step further comprises: dividing activities in a simulation environment into a first plurality of activities comprising an execute phase and a second plurality of activities comprising an update phase; computing said first plurality of activities comprising said execute phase at a clock edge; updating at said clock edge a state of said simulation environment; and computing said second plurality of activities comprising said update phase at said clock edge.