Formal equivalence checking between two models of a circuit design using checkpoints
US8201119B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 6, 2010 |
| Grant date | Jun 12, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 8, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F30/3323
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Some embodiments of the present invention provide techniques and systems for determining whether a high-level model (HLM) for a circuit design is equivalent to a register-transfer-level (RTL) model for the circuit design. During operation, a system can identify a set of checkpoints. Each checkpoint can be associated with a characteristic function defined over the states of a finite-state-machine (FSM) representation of the HLM, a characteristic function defined over the states of an FSM representation of the RTL model, and an invariant defined over a set of variables in the HLM and a set of registers in the RTL model. Next, the system can generate a set of invariant proof problems, wherein each invariant proof problem corresponds to a transition between two checkpoints in the set of checkpoints. The system can then determine whether the HLM is equivalent to the RTL model by solving the set of invariant proof problems.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.