AspectVHDL stage 1: the prototype of an aspect-oriented hardware description language

Hardware description languages are a promising field for the application of aspect technology. In a case study with the MB-Lite soft core CPU, which is an open, cycle accurate re-implementation of Xilinx' Microblaze processor, we show that crosscutting concerns in hardware structures actually exist. After discussing the semantic differences between programming languages and hardware description languages, we introduce our first version of AspectVHDL, an aspect-oriented extension of the popular hardware description language VHDL. The evaluation of an aspect-oriented variant of the MB-Lite CPU gives first evidence that using AspectVHDL for the implementation of crosscutting hardware concerns does not induce any costs in terms of chip space.