The High-Level Synthesis of Digital Systems

High-level synthesis systems start with an abstract behavioral specification of a digital system and find a register-transfer level structure that realizes the given behavior. In this paper we examine the high-level synthesis task, showing how it can be decomposed into a number of distinct but not independent subtasks. Then we present the techniques that have been developed for solving those subtasks. Finally, we discuss those areas related to high-level synthesis that are still open problems. © 1990 IEEE