Development of an expert hardware synthesis system (artificial intelligence, knowledge-based, acquisition representation)
C. Ronald Green · 1984
Digital hardware synthesis is the design of a hardware system starting with behavioral descriptions of the desired system and using an interactive computer program to develop the desired product. This knowledge-based expert system provides an approach to solve a problem requiring an expert with considerable domain expertise and facts about available digital hardware building blocks. The goals of this research effort are to extract and codify rules exhibited by expert hardware design engineers, facts about VHSIC chips, and other domain specific knowledge; select a knowledge representation appropriate for this research effort; implement this knowledge base in an interactive computer program and provide test scenarios for prototype system performance. The approach has been proven in the computer program Prototype Expert Consultant System (PECOS) and is a springboard to expansion into additional VLSI chips, rules, and domain specific facts. This system will allow incremental addition and checkout of these additional refinements as well as development of A Consultant Expert System (ACES).