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

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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.