Knowledge representation and reasoning in a software synthesis architecture

The knowledge representation and reasoning strategies in an automatic program synthesis architecture called ELF are described. ELF synthesizes computer-aided design (CAD) tools that automatically route wires in VLSI circuits. The design space ELF confronts, requires it to understand various physical technologies, to select an appropriate procedure-level decomposition, to choose algorithms and data structures, to manage any interdependencies, and to generate efficient code. ELF manages the design space using a variety of knowledge sources, including domain-specific knowledge. The manner in which knowledge is used determines the representation method of choice. The effectiveness of these ideas is illustrated via a tour through the synthesis steps for a specific routing tool, and a brief discussion of the performance of the resulting synthetic router as measured against an industrial tool