Matlab is basically used for both algorithmic development. However, in the last yearsd Matlab has inceeasingly been used also as a platform for hardware design and testing.

SystemC is a C++/C compatible platform for developing, testing, and simulating hardware design and is the platform of choice for the AMASS platform. It also allows a relatively simple "in-the-loop" development of both the Golden Models and the hardware implementation.

Other hardware development and simulation systems include

"System-Level &RTL Design: More and more projects are starting with a system-level design (SLD). Reasons for performing a SLD is to ensure software/hardware verification or to assess performance of the overall architecture or key algorithms. ModelSim's single-kernel architecture provides a unified kernel for Verilog, VHDL, and SystemC 2.1, for a true, mixed-language environment."