Exploring structural symmetry automatically in symbolic trajectory evaluation

Abstract

This paper presents a formal theory to characterize symmetry in netlists and symmetry in properties. The inherent correlation between the two types of symmetry is formalized as a theorem, which provides the soundness of our symmetry reduction method. A practical tactic is introduced to effectively integrate the symmetry reduction approach in a hybrid verification environment which combines theorem proving and symbolic trajectory evaluation. Finally, the effecitveness of the symmetry reduction method is demonstrated by case studies.