Noninvasive Visibility into Large Scale Electronic Systems : A Virtual "X-ray" of Real Time Behavior

With the power of its SystemLab PS™ advanced system modeling environment, CPU Tech offers unprecedented visibility into large scale system behavior. As significant as x-ray imaging to the medical profession, this revolutionary breakthrough in system design and integration allows engineers and programmers to see inside the electronics of an entire platform in real time during actual software execution.

Prior to the end of the nineteenth century, doctors attempted to definitively diagnose many internal medical problems using rudimentary and speculative procedures. With his unintended scientific discovery of x-rays in 1895, William Roentgen drastically changed the face of medicine by marking the start of a revolution in medical diagnosis. For physicians, x-ray images first permitted a glimpse beneath the skin, a way to noninvasively see inside the human “system of systems.” As a result, actions could be taken based on real time, observable representations of internal behaviors or conditions.

In the world of electronics, large scale systems share many characteristics of their physiological counterparts. These highly complex systems likewise contain many different and intricate subsystems working together to provide the necessary functions of the overall platform. The subsystems must not only work well independently, but must operate seamlessly and efficiently together to achieve ideal interoperable performance. During both the development and maintenance phases of a system’s life cycle, the diagnostic and test function plays a critical role in ensuring that the subsystems and overall platform perform as required. The ability to “see inside” and perform system-level diagnostics based on tangible, real time data is critical to the identification and debugging of system-level problems.

Regrettably, the state of electronic system-level diagnostics and testing today is akin to the pre-x-ray period in medical science. Attempting to isolate a specific system failure using limited information obtained from probed testing is analogous to doctors relying solely on the results of blood tests to determine symptomatic causes. More advanced tools are required to achieve a deeper level of visibility into electronic system behavior, just as x-ray images provide information that blood tests alone can not.

SystemLab PS is the only tool available today that offers full, real time visibility and control of large scale electronic systems.