I. Maykiv, A. Stepanenko, D. Woschall / Computing, 2009, Vol. 8, Issue 2, 137-138 137 A METHOD FOR STRUCTURAL SYNTHESIS OF NETWORK CAPABLE APPLICATION PROCESSORS I. Maykiv 1) , A. Stepanenko 1) , D. Woschall 2) 1) Research Institute of Intelligent Computer Systems, Ternopil National Economic University, 46009 Ukraine, Ternopil, 11 Lvivska str., mim@tanet.edu.te.ua, {andrew.stepanenko@gmail.com}, http://www.ics.tneu.edu.ua/ 2) Esensors Inc., 4240 Ridge Lea Road Suite 37 Amherst, NY 14226, USA 14226, darold@wobschall.com, http://www.eesensors.com/ Abstract: A method for structural synthesis of Network Capable Application Processors (NCAPs) is proposed. It is based on a method of morphological analysis and synthesis and includes phases of functional analysis, structural synthesis, and search for a set of optimal solutions. The proposed method combines lexicographical criterion of preference (L- criterion) at a stage of functional analysis and unconditional criterion of preference (Pareto optimality) during the search phase, which are considered in literature as alternative methods of search for optimal solutions. Combining of criteria, makes it possible to reduce the number of synthesized alternative variants at a stage of structural synthesis and all obtained solutions are allowable. Keywords: structural synthesis, morphological analysis, lexicographical criterion of preference, unconditional criterion of preference. Modern measurement and control systems are implemented as multilevel systems with the distributed computing resources on the basis of industrial buses. The IEEE-1451 series of standards has been developed by IEEE for unification of requirements for hardware and software of such systems. Also a term Network Capable Application Processor (NCAP) as a data processing device is defined by this set of standards. NCAP occupies an intermediate level between a network server (high level) and sensors and actuators (low level). The main functions of the NCAP are data processing and support of a set of serial interfaces. However, each area of application is characterized by the set of functional tasks which demand use of the specialized device technical parameters, which are optimized for the specified area of use. The analysis of available literature on this subject has shown, that at present the methods for optimum structural synthesis of digital systems based on microcontrollers which are characterized by a wide set of features with a significant price range is absent. The objective of this work is creation of a method for optimum structural synthesis of NCAP on the basis of microcontrollers, with optimal cost- functionality relation obtained from a set functional parameters which can appear as criterion for estimation of the device quality. The effective technique of structural synthesis of devices with optimal cost-functionality relation includes the next stages: 1) functional analysis; 2) structural synthesis; 3) search for optimal structures. The generalized algorithm of the proposed technique includes eight stages (Fig.1) which are divided into groups: functional analysis and structural synthesis. The requirement specification for the NCAP is analyzed at the first stage of the design process. At this stage the list of functional tasks which are executed by the NCAP is created. Functional tasks are divided on system and application tasks. System tasks are realized by operational system (OS) or the specialized software and provide interaction for the application tasks. Application tasks serve external devices and users and are divided into two groups: 1) data exchange; 2) data processing. The analysis of application tasks is performed at the second stage. The set of information parameters necessary to make estimation on the amount of input and output data for each application task is defined as a result of the analysis. As a result of this stage a set of vectors specifying functional restrictions for the NCAP is created. The hardware and software necessary for implementation of all application functions of system is determined at the third stage as result of the requirement specification analysis and analysis of the list of application functions executed by the NCAP. computing@computingonline.net www.computingonline.net ISSN 1727-6209 International Journal of Computing