Issues in synthesis of board-level systems

Board layout is fully or partially automated, thanks to placement and routing systems. The higher levels of the design process-component selection, architectural design, software development-are still done manually. The authors' research program at Princeton University concentrates on synthesis algorithms for high-level board design tasks. Based on case studies of system designs made both within the university and in industry, they have chosen a skeleton-based methodology for board specification and synthesis and are researching a variety of problems posed by this approach. A skeleton-based synthesis methodology assumes that a few key design decisions-major architectural choices and key component selections-are part of the board specification. The synthesis system's task is to complete the board design, based on a functional description of the board plus constraints on speed, size, power consumption, and interface behavior. A skeleton-based synthesis methodology is realistic and effective.<
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