YORKTOWN LOGIC LANGUAGE: AN APL-LIKE DESIGN LANGUAGE FOR VLSI SPECIFICATION.

Abstract

YLL is a programming language, based closely on and embedded in APL, in which combinatorial logic can be described, simulated and converted to PLAs. It was constructed as the programming language for an experimental silicon compiler development. The output is acceptable to logic synthesis and minimization systems such as the Yorktown Logic Editor and thence to other design aids. YLL is similar to symbolic algebra systems, in that each line of YLL arithmetic is retained in symbolic form. Symbolic arithmetic can be done with builtins And, Or, Not, Add, Equals, Greater, Assignment, Decode; in addition, all of the APL structural functions (like reshape) can be used. User-written functions, looping and recursion may be used, and true APL (i. e. , nonsymbolic) calculation can be intermixed at any point. Conditional and block statements and label vectors are also permitted. The circuits described may be translated into true APL and tested numerically, with the full panoply of APL debugging techniques.