The CMU Design Automation System - An Example of Automated Data Path Design

Abstract

This paper illustrator* tho methodology of the CMU Design Automation System by presenting, an automated design of the PDP-8/E data palhs from a functional description. This automated clnsign (using synthesis techniques) is compared both to DECV, implementation and the Intersil single chip implementation. 1, IntroductionAG it is becoming possible to integrate larger numbers of logic components on a single chip, the need for more powerful design aide is becoming apparent. Indeed, these aids must be capable of supporting a designer from the system level of design clown to I ho mask level. In this way the systems level designer can become more aware of the implications of higher-level design tradeoffs on implementation properties such as silicon area, power consumption, testability, and speed, and ho able to make more timely use of new technologies. The ultimate goal of the Carnegie-Mellon University Design Automation (CMU-DA) System [12] is to provide a technology-relative, structured-design aid to help the hardware designer explore a larger number of possible design implementations.Inputs to the system are a behavioral description of the system to be designed, an objective function which specifics the user's optimization criteria, and a data base specifying the hardware components available to the design system. The CMU-DA system differs from other design automation systems because the input design description is a functional specification. Such a specification provides a model that, while accurately characterizing the input-output behavior desired for the implementation, doer, not necessarily specify its internal structure.Tho The paper will conclude by comparing these two alternative designs to commercial implementations.

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