Hierarchical Design Synthesis: the M1 System

Rapid advances in semiconductor technology are motivating the development of computer-aided design tools to assist human designers at the higher levels of the design process. In particular, there is a need for tools that aid system-level design synthesis - the process of producing a detailed artifact satisfying high level specifications given a set of components. A knowledge-based approach that uses a hierarchical design synthesis methodology is described. M1 is a knowledge-based system that implements the approach for the domain of single board computer design. A set of experiments which indicate M1's capabilities and the effectiveness of the approach in organizing and utilizing knowledge are presente