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

我们将研究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，这些工具通常用于集成电路（ic）的制造。开发这些工具的公司需要评估它们的算法，而唯一有效的方法是使用“基准”用户电路对它们进行测试。获得这些示例电路是困难的。另一种选择是使用“电路发生器”，它可以产生具有许多真实电路特性的合成结构。虽然以前有过电路生成器，但它们都是在低级抽象（闸级）上创建电路。然而，今天大多数CAD工具在寄存器传输级别（RTL）处理电路，这是一个更高的抽象级别；评估这些工具中使用的算法只能在有限的范围内使用以前的生成器。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。

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.