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Method and software tool for automatic generation of software for integrated circuit

Method and software tool for automatic generation of software for integrated circuit description/claims

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/406,194, filed on Apr. 18, 2006 and entitled “Method and Software Tool for Automatic Generation of Software for Integrated Circuit Processors,” which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/672,347, entitled “Method For Automatic Generation Of Software For Integrated Circuit Microprocessors,” which was filed on Apr. 18, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to programming for integrated circuit processors, and in particular to a method and associated software tool for automatically generating software for a processor of an integrated circuit such as an integrated circuit forming part of an RFID tag.

Many current devices and systems employ integrated circuits (ICs) that are customized and tailored to a particular application. Such ICs include microprocessors that execute software that has been custom designed for the particular application in question. For example, the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) systems is expanding rapidly in a wide range of application areas. RFID systems consist of radio frequency tags or transponders and radio frequency readers or interrogators. The RFID tags include ICs and an antenna for communication over an air interface. The RFID readers query the RFID tags for information stored on them, which can be, for example, identification numbers, user written data, or sensed data. RFID systems have thus been applied in many application areas to track, monitor, report and manage items as they move between physical locations. Most RFID systems are implemented using customized requirements that are defined ad hoc. In addition, multiple, often competing, standards exist for RFID hardware, software and data management. As a result, in most applications, RFID tag and reader hardware and software must be specifically designed for each particular application, and must be modified or re-designed every time the specification for the current application is adjusted, new applications are introduced, and/or the standards are modified or new standards are developed. Thus, as RFID systems exemplify, the underlying feature in many IC applications is the use of proprietary hardware and software that is non-reusable and tailored to the particular application in question.

The design, development, and fabrication of customized ICs constitute a very costly and time consuming process. As an example, the license for a single seat for software to do commercial IC design can cost as much as $350,000 per year. In addition, the salary of a person qualified to design an IC device can be significant. As a result, many small companies are, from a cost standpoint, prohibited from designing their own ICs, and must instead pay for another party to do the customization. There are also numerous generic ICs, such as those on RFID tags and ICs used in other communications applications or related areas, that can be purchased from OEM suppliers. These generic ICs can be customized for a particular application using the software that is executed by the IC microprocessor. However, with prior art technology, this customization process is difficult and costly, and therefore is not always a viable solution for many companies, particularly smaller ones, to do on their own. There is thus a need for a method and software tool that facilitates, in a cost effective manner, the design of a customized IC, such as those on an RFID tag, that begins with a generic IC available from or customized by an IC supplier.

The present invention provides a method of generating software code for execution by a processor of an IC, such as those on an RFID tag, that includes a compilation flow that automatically generates software for the IC based on a simple input description of the IC's standards or requirements. The invention can be used to generate executable code for any microprocessor using any standard or custom protocol. At any later stage, the commands in the input description can be added or removed to describe a new standard that is a subset, a superset or a completely disjoint set of the original standard. The invention automatically generates the software corresponding to the new description in a significantly short time.

An overview of the methodology and compilation flow of the present invention is provided schematically in FIG. 1. For ease of description herein, the invention is described in terms of an RFID implementation. However, as will be appreciated, the methodology and compilation flow of the present invention may be used to generate executable code for other types of generic ICs. The invention utilizes an RFID compiler 5 that takes as input simple assembly-like descriptions of the standards for the RFID, represented at 10, which are known as RFID macros. The standards for the RFID specify the set of RFID primitives, or commands to the RFID tag, and the tag's behavior in response to the primitives. The user defines the RFID tag's response behavior in a programming language such as ANSI C, which is also input into the compiler. Templates are automatically generated to guide the user in writing the response behavior. The compiler generates code 15 for the RFID tag controller, such as C code, based on the inputs. The generated code can be executed on an embedded compiler 20 of the RFID tag 25. The invention is extensible as it allows for addition (or removal) of a set of custom primitives that may be a subset or superset of the original standard. Because of its extensible nature, the invention can accommodate for multiple, often competing, standards such as existing efforts from ISO and ANSI while also serving the needs of current and future applications.

The accompanying drawings illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention as shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the compilation flow of an embodiment of a method of automatically generating software for an integrated circuit processor according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are schematic diagrams of alternative embodiments of a typical RFID system;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating an embodiment of the method of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the compilation flow for a specific set of RFID primitives;

FIG. 5 is a schematic representation showing the format of the fields of a particular RFID primitive and response;

FIG. 6 shows an RFID macros specification of the RFID primitive and response shown in FIG. 5;

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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