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.

我们将研究自动生成合成电路的技术，这些合成电路可用于评估集成电路（IC）制造中常用的计算机辅助设计（CAD）工具。 开发这些工具的公司需要评估他们的算法，唯一有效的方法是使用“基准”用户电路来测试它们。 获得这些示例电路是困难的。 另一种方法是使用“电路生成器”，它可以生成具有真实的电路的许多特性的合成结构。 虽然以前有电路生成器，但它们都是在低抽象级别（门级）创建电路。 然而，今天大多数CAD工具在寄存器传输级（RTL）处理电路，这是一个更高的抽象层次;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生成器。 在这个项目中，我们将开发一个电路生成器，在这个更高的抽象层次上创建电路。 创建这样的生成器需要在RTL处有效地操纵电路。 Invionics是一家总部位于温哥华的公司，它开发了一个平台，该平台提供了一个应用程序编程接口（API），允许设计人员快速轻松地创建在此级别上操作电路的应用程序。 在这个项目中，Invionics和不列颠哥伦比亚省大学的研究人员将共同研究如何使用Invionics的平台来支持创建这样的电路发生器。 这项研究的成果将有三个方面：（1）电路发生器将免费提供给研究人员，作为其实验平台的一部分，（2）电路发生器将作为Invionics客户的参考设计，使他们能够更好地了解如何使用Invionics平台，以及（3）随着公司进一步开发其平台，该发生器将在Invionics中有用。