SYNCHRONOUS CIRCUIT SYNTHESIS USING AN ASYNCHRONOUS SPECIFICATION

摘要

A method for specifying and synthesizing a synchronous digital circuit by first accepting a specification of an asynchronous system in which stored values are updated according to a set of state transition rules. For instanc e, the state transition rules are specified as a Term Rewriting System (TRS) in which each rule specifies a number of allowable state transitions, and includes a logical precondition on the stored values and a functional specification of the stored values after a state transition in terms of the stored values prior to the state transition. The specification of the asynchronous circuit is converted into a specification of a synchronous circuit in which a number of state transitions can occur during each clock period. The method includes identifying sets of state transitions, for examp le by identifying sets of TRS rules, that can occur during a single clocking period and forming the specification of the synchronous circuit to allow any of the state transitions in a single set to occur during any particular clocking period.