ISHMAEL: An integrated software/hardware maintenance and evolution environment

Abstract

This system-development environment is a companion to SysCAD that permits users to specify, prototype, simulate, develop, and document a complex digital system. ISHMAEL can manage the simultaneous evolution of a system's software and hardware. ISHMAEL users can develop faithful models of system performance that simulate the interaction of hardware and software at any level of detail. They can iterate hardware and software designs during a simulation, which permits realistic evaluation of design tradeoffs and implementation alternatives early in a system's life cycle and, thus, reduces system costs. ISHMAEL's integrated, graphical interface provides several views of the application being developed: a high-level or a detailed (i.e., schematic) hardware view, and the application-user's view. The system was used for prototyping, specification, evaluation, and implementation of a highly distributed, telecommunications system.