Real Intent updates linter for aviation, Mathworks and SystemVerilog

A new edition of Real Intent’s Ascent Lint error-checking tool will be released in March. The update includes features aimed at smoothing compliance with the DO-254 aviation electronic hardware standard, closer integration with flows based on software from The Mathworks, and enhanced support for SystemVerilog.

Graham Bell, vice president of Marketing at Real Intent, said “This release addresses the needs of companies developing next-generation designs for FPGAs or complex SoCs. It is a direct result of Real Intent experts working with industry leaders to define and implement richer rules. The addition of DO-254 compliance testing helps ensure that designers’ airborne electronics meet the industry standard for quality and reliability.”

Specific highlights in the new release include:

• Policy files specifically for those seeking DO-254 compliance, particularly in the light of the highly structured coding style demanded by the aviation standard
• Tighter Mathworks integration via HDL Coder, the tool that generates synthesizable Verilog and VHDL for MATLAB functions, Simulink models, and Stateflow charts.
• Enhanced VHDL finite state machine handling for deeper analysis
• 17 new VHDL and 12 new Verilog lint rules that ensure design code quality and consistency for a wide range of potential issues
• Lower noise in reporting of design issues

Kiran Kintali, Product Development Lead at The MathWorks, said of the greater integration with HDL Coder, “[It] enables users to verify that the RTL code generated is compliant with users’ coding conventions and industry standards for a safe and reliable implementation flow for digital synthesis tools used by ASIC and FPGA designers.

“We see that Ascent Lint has excellent performance and accuracy in verification of our extensive library of toolbox functions.”

Pranav Ashar, Real Intent’s chief technology officer, also considers some further implications of the increasingly important DO-254 standard in an exclusive article published on Tech Design Forum.

Real Intent has posted a short video on the Ascent Lint release on YouTube. In addition, the company will be exhibiting the software at DVCon, CDNLive Silicon Valley, and SNUG Silicon Valley.