RTL-based synthetic circuit generation for the evaluation of advanced computer-aided design algorithms and integrated circuits

基于 RTL 的合成电路生成，用于评估先进的计算机辅助设计算法和集成电路

• 批准号: 478746-2015
• 负责人: Wilton, Steven
• 金额: $ 0.52万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=579763
• 关键词: RTL; based; synthetic; circuit; generation

We will investigate techniques to automatically generate synthetic circuits that can be used to evaluate Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools, commonly used in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). Companies that develop these tools need to evaluate their algorithms, and the only effective way to do this is to test them using "benchmark" user circuits. Obtaining these example circuits is difficult. An alternative is to employ a "circuit generator" which can generate synthetic structures that have many of the properties of real circuits. Although there have been previous circuit generators, they all create circuits at a low-level of abstraction (at the gate level). However, most CAD tools today process circuits at the Register Transfer Level (RTL) which is a higher level of abstraction; evaluating the algorithms used in these tools can only use previous generators to a limited extent. In this project, we will develop a circuit generator that creates circuits at this higher level of abstraction. Creating such a generator requires the efficient manipulation of circuits at the RTL. Invionics, a Vancouver-based company, produces a platform which provides an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows designers to quickly and easily create applications that manipulate circuits at this level. In this project, researchers at Invionics and the University of British Columbia will work together to investigate how Invionics' platform can be used to support the creation of such a circuit generator. The outcome of this research will be threefold: (1) the circuit generator will be made available, free of charge, to researchers to use as part of their experimental platform, (2) the circuit generator will serve as a reference design for Invionics customers, allowing them to better understand how to use the Invionics platform, and (3) the generator will be useful within Invionics as the company further develops their platform.

我们将研究以自动生成可用于评估计算机辅助设计（CAD）工具的合成电路的技术，该工具通常用于制造集成电路（ICS）。 开发这些工具的公司需要评估其算法，而这样做的唯一有效方法是使用“基准”用户电路测试它们。 获得这些示例电路很困难。 一种替代方法是采用“电路发生器”，该“电路发生器”可以生成具有真实电路的许多特性的合成结构。 尽管以前有电路发生器，但它们都以低级抽象（在门水平）为单位创建电路。 但是，当今大多数CAD工具在寄存器转移级别（RTL）上处理电路，这是更高的抽象水平。评估这些工具中使用的算法只能在有限的程度上使用以前的发电机。 在这个项目中，我们将开发一个电路生成器，该电路生成器在这种较高水平的抽象水平上创建电路。 创建这样的发电机需要在RTL处有效操纵电路。 Invionics是一家位于温哥华的公司，生产一个平台，该平台提供了一个应用程序编程接口（API），该平台使设计人员可以快速，轻松地创建在此级别操纵电路的应用程序。 在这个项目中，Invionics和不列颠哥伦比亚大学的研究人员将共同研究Invionics平台如何用于支持创建此类电路生成器。 这项研究的结果将是三倍：（1）电路生成器将免费提供给研究人员作为实验平台的一部分，（2）电路生成器将为Invionics客户提供参考设计，使他们能够更好地了解Invionics平台，并且（3）生成器将在Invionics中有用，以开发其平台。