Introduction
Usuallyinintegratedcircuitdesign,somemathematicalmethods(suchasbinarydecisiondiagrams,Booleansatisfiabilityproblems)areusedtoperformformalverificationbetweendifferentcircuits.Comparewhethertheyareequivalentinbehavior.
Formalverification
Inthedesignprocessofcomputerhardware(especiallyintegratedcircuits)andsoftwaresystems,themeaningofformalverificationisbasedonacertainoracertainFortheseformalnormsorattributes,mathematicalmethodsareusedtoprovetheircorrectnessorincorrectness.
Softwaretestingcannotprovethatthesystemdoesnothavedefects,norcanitprovethatitmatchescertainattributes.Onlyaformalverificationprocesscanprovethatasystemdoesnothaveacertaindefectormatchesacertainattributeorattributes.Thesystemcannotbeprovenortestedasdefect-free,becauseitisimpossibletoformallystipulatewhatis"nodefect".Allthatcanbedoneistoprovethatasystemdoesnothaveanyconceivabledefectsandsatisfiesalltherequiredandusefulattributesthatmakethesystemmatchthefunction.
Inintegratedcircuitdesign,formalverificationisaverificationmethodforintegratedcircuitdesign.Itsmainideaistoverifythecorrectnessofadesignbyusingformalverification.Formalverificationcanbedividedintothreecategories:EquivalenceChecking,FormalModelChecking(alsoknownasfeaturechecking)andTheoryProver.
Theverificationofequivalencecheckisusedtoverifytheconsistencybetweentheregistertransferleveldesignandthegate-levelnetlist,andbetweenthegate-levelnetlistandthegate-levelnetlist.Intheprocessofscanchainrearrangement,clocktreesynthesis,etc.,equivalencecheckscanbeusedtoensuretheconsistencyofthenetlist.Equivalencecheckinghasbeenintegratedintotheintegratedcircuitstandarddesignprocess.EquivalencecheckisveryusefulwhencheckingECO.Forexample,whenadesignerismodifyingagate-levelnetlist,hemistakenlywritesanORgateasaNORgateduetoahanderror.Theequivalencechecktoolcaneasilyfindthisbycomparingtheregistertransfer-leveldesignwiththegate-levelnetlist.mistake.
Modelcheckingusestemporallogictodescribespecifications,anduseseffectivesearchmethodstocheckwhetheragivensystemmeetsthespecifications.Modelcheckingisahotspotincurrentresearch,buttheproblemoflimitedcircuitscaleforverificationhasnotbeenwellresolved.
Thetheoremprovesthatboththesystemandthenormareexpressedasmathematicallogicformulas,andthedescriptionissoughtfromtheaxioms.Thetheoremprovesthatthecircuitmodeltobeverifiedisnotlimited,butitrequiresmanualinterventionandmorebackgroundknowledgeoftheuser.
Electronicdesignautomation
Electronicdesignautomation(English:Electronicdesignautomation,abbreviation:EDA)referstotheuseofcomputer-aideddesign(CAD)softwaretocompletethedesignofthefunctionaldesign,synthesis,verification,physicaldesign(includinglayout,wiring,layout,designrulechecking,etc.)ofverylarge-scaleintegratedcircuit(VLSI)chipsWay.
Nowadays,digitalcircuitsareverymodular(seeintegratedcircuitdesign,designclosure,designflow(EDA)).Theforefrontoftheproductionlinestandardizesthedesignprocessanddividesthedesignprocessintomany"cells"(cells).),withoutconsideringtechnologyforthetimebeing,andthencellsusespecificintegratedcircuittechnologytoimplementlogicorotherelectronicfunctions.Manufacturersusuallyprovidelibrariesofcomponentsandsimulationmodelsthatconformtostandardsimulationtoolsfortheproductionprocess.TheanalogEDAtoolislessmodular,becauseitrequiresmorefunctionsandmoreinteractionbetweenparts,andpartsaregenerallylessideal.
Intheelectronicsindustry,duetotheincreasingscaleofthesemiconductorindustry,EDAplaysanincreasinglyimportantrole.Manufacturersusingthistechnologyaremostlyfoundrymanufacturersengagedinthemanufactureofsemiconductordevices,aswellasdesignservicecompaniesthatuseEDAsimulationsoftwaretoevaluateproductionconditions.EDAtoolsarealsousedintheprogrammingoffieldprogrammablelogicgatearrays.