Yoda: a framework for the conceptual design VLSI systems

As the complexity of the VLSI design process grows, it becomes increasingly more costly to conduct design in a trial-and-error fashion because the number of possible design alternatives, as well as the cost of a complete synthesis and fabrication cycle, increase dramatically. A conceptual design addresses this problem by allowing the designer to conduct initial feasibility studies, giving guidance on the most promising design alternatives with a preliminary indication of estimated performance. The authors describe a general framework that supports this conceptual design and a particular instance of such a framework, called Yoda, that supports the conceptual design phase for digital signal processing filters.<>