Robustness and Usability in Modern Design Flows

The size of technically producible integrated circuits increases continuously. But the ability to design and verify these circuits does not keep up with this development. Therefore, today’s design ?ow has to be improved to achieve a higher productivity. In this book the current design methodology and ver- cation methodology are analyzed, a number of de?ciencies are identi?ed, and solutions are suggested. Improvements in the methodology as well as in the underlying algorithms are proposed. An in-depth presentation of preliminary concepts makes the book self-contained. Based on this foundation major - sign problems are targeted. In particular, a complete tool ?ow for Synthesis for Testability of SystemC descriptions is presented. The resulting circuits are completely testable and test pattern generation in polynomial time is possible. Veri?cation issues are covered in even more detail. A whole new paradigm for formal design veri?cation is suggested. This is based upon design und- standing, the automatic generation of properties, and powerful tool support for debugging failures. All these new techniques are empirically evaluated and - perimental results are provided. As a result, an enhanced design ?ow is created that provides more automation (i.e. better usability) and reduces the probability of introducing conceptual errors (i.e. higher robustness). Acknowledgments We would like to thank all members of the research group for computer arc- tecture in Bremen for the helpful discussions and the great atmosphere during work and research.