IEEE Standard SystemC® Language Reference Manual

As the electronics industry builds more complex systems involving large numbers of components including software, there is an increasing need for a modeling language that can manage the complexity and size of these systems. SystemC provides a mechanism for managing this complexity with its facility for modeling hardware and software together at multiple levels of abstraction. This capability is not available in traditional hardware description languages.

Stakeholders in SystemC include Electronic Design Automation (EDA) companies who implement SystemC class libraries and tools, Integrated Circuit (IC) suppliers who extend those class libraries and use SystemC to model their intellectual property, and end users who use SystemC to model their systems.

Before the publication of this standard, SystemC was defined by an open source proof-of-concept C++ library, also known as the reference simulator, available from the Open SystemC Initiative (OSCI). In the event of discrepancies between the behavior of the reference simulator and statements made in this standard, this standard shall be taken to be definitive.

This standard is not intended to serve as a users' guide or to provide an introduction to SystemC. Readers requiring a SystemC tutorial or information on the intended use of SystemC should consult the OSCI Web site (www.systemc.org) to locate the many books and training classes available.