SYMCAD: synthesis of microprogrammed control for automated VLSI design

摘要

The paper discusses a software package named SYMCAD, a retargetable microcode synthesizer which forms part of a microprogrammed control synthesis in the VLSI CAD system IDEAS (Integrated Design Automation System). The objective is to synthesize a microprogrammed control for a specified data part and microsequencer to realize the behavior expressed in a hardware description language. A distinctive feature of this approach is the synthesis of a customized control unit suitable for VLSI realization. Retargetable microcode generation comprises symbolic microprogram synthesis, microinstruction format generation and binary microcode generation, to map the required behavior on the specified micro-architecture.