<s>
SpecC	B-Language
is	O
a	O
System	O
Description	O
Language	O
(	O
SDL	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
System-level	O
Design	O
Language	O
(	O
SLDL	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
an	O
extension	O
of	O
the	O
ANSI	O
C	O
programming	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
aid	O
the	O
design	O
and	O
specification	O
of	O
digital	O
embedded	B-Architecture
systems	I-Architecture
,	O
providing	O
improved	O
productivity	O
whilst	O
retaining	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
change	O
a	O
design	O
at	O
functional	O
and	O
specification	O
level	O
,	O
unlike	O
HDLs	O
like	O
Verilog	B-Language
and	O
VHDL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
architectural	O
model	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
which	O
allows	O
other	O
tools	O
to	O
directly	O
map	O
the	O
design	O
onto	O
silicon	O
or	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
and	O
design	O
methodology	O
were	O
created	O
by	O
Rainer	O
Dömer	O
and	O
Daniel	O
Gajski	O
at	O
the	O
Centre	O
for	O
Embedded	B-Architecture
Computer	I-Architecture
Systems	I-Architecture
at	O
University	O
of	O
California	O
,	O
Irvine	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
projects	O
and	O
design	O
methodologies	O
include	O
SystemC	B-Language
,	O
an	O
SDL	O
based	O
on	O
C++	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
this	O
rival	O
language	O
has	O
seen	O
much	O
more	O
widespread	O
industry	O
usage	O
(	O
although	O
SpecC	B-Language
is	O
popular	O
in	O
Japan	O
)	O
,	O
SpecC	B-Language
retains	O
simplicity	O
whilst	O
also	O
providing	O
the	O
vital	O
features	O
of	O
any	O
SDL	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
concurrency	B-Operating_System
(	O
SpecC	B-Language
provides	O
pipelined	O
and	O
parallel	O
flows	O
)	O
,	O
synchronisation	O
,	O
state	B-Application
transitions	I-Application
(	O
not	O
available	O
in	O
Verilog	B-Language
)	O
,	O
and	O
composite	O
data	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
