ALMS: Automated logic mapping system

Abstract

ALMS is a set of design automation computer programs which accepts as input a description of a logic design, specifications of modules (e.g., chips, cards, etc.) into which the blocks of the design are to be partitioned or mapped, and some constraints that must be satisfied. It produces as output a documented assignment of the blocks to the modules satisfying the specified constraints. The system algorithms are presented, system features are discussed, program execution times are given and results are presented and compared to manual solutions for the same tasks. Three conclusions are reached. First is that computer programs make it possible to perform partitioning and mapping experiments which were not possible before. Second, for one-level partitions (e.g., logic gates on chips), highly automatic solutions obtained by the program are at least as good as manual solutions and are less costly to obtain. Third, for multi-level partitions (e.g., logic gates on chips on cards) or for mappings, the solutions obtained with the program are again at least as good as manual solutions; furthermore, ALMS allows a designer to try more alternatives than he could manually, so that he can trade-off the time and cost of trying additional alternatives against the value of a better solution.