Embedded Systems

assembler, migration, conversion, transformation, CPU, legacy, C, COBOL, Intel, processors, WSL, fermat, assembler to C, assembler to COBOL

CPUs for embedded systems are providing increasingly better speed and capacity at lower cost. At the same time, embedded system software is becoming more complex. The result is increasing pressure to move from assembler language to higher level languages such as C, C++ or COBOL. This can now be achieved without losing the considerable investment in existing assembler code by using the FermaT Migration Service.

This system originally written for IBM Mainframe Assembler has now been enhanced to enable systems written in Assembler on other processors to be benefit from totally automatic migration to High Level Languages such as C, C++ or COBOL.

The use of input and output parser technology means that it is relatively easy for SML  to tune the FermaT Migration Service to support  the many different processors and specific versions assembler in use by customers today. The resultant generated code is restructured for easy on-going maintenance by customer programmers, it  is then compiled for the target processor using standard supported compilers and optimisers.

The following diagram depicts the FermaT migration technology and use of the Parsers

TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM

1. Translation from Assembler to WSL

A sophisticated Assembler parser is used to capture the entire functionality of the Assembler code using full assembler listings. This is then automatically converted to the intermediate Wide Spectrum Language (WSL) designed specifically to support code transformation.

2. Transformation of the WSL

Once the entire functionality of the Assembler code has been replicated within WSL a series of sophisticated code transformations (up to several thousand per module) are automatically applied to the code to restructure and simplify the code to its optimum logical state prior to migration to the chosen target language.

3. Translation from WSL to target language

Once the automatic restructuring has been completed, an additional set of language specific transformations are applied which convert the WSL representation of the Assembler.

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Last modified on May 07