N2C (originally called Ocapi) hardware-software codesign technology was development by IMEC in Belgium as an internal project in 1992. Ocapi supports the generation of a VHDL hardware description from C after a partition between hardware and software has been chosen. It also focuses on data-flow design.
An environment for design of heterogeneous systems on chip. These systems are heterogeneous both in terms of specification and implementation. CoWare is based on a communicating processes data-model which supports encapsulation and refinement and makes a strict separation between functional and communication behavior. Encapsulation enables the reuse of existing specification and design environments (languages, simulators, compilers). Refinement provides for a consistent and integrated path from specification to implementation. The design steps that will be addressed include: system specification, simulation at various abstraction levels, data path synthesis, communication refinement and hardware/software co-design. A spread-spectrum based pager system serves to illuminate the design process in the CoWare environment.
In 2000, Coware gained access to additional technology from IMEC including hardware refinement, embedded software flow, low-power design and optimal memory usage.
In 2005, CoWare acquired the Signal Processing department from Cadence
In 2010 Synopsys announced the acquisition of CoWare
