Formal verification of NCL circuits

Abstract

In this chapter, the author describe an equivalence checking methodology for NULL Convention Logic (NCL) circuits. Note that currently, there are no commercial equivalence checkers for quasi-delay insensitive (QDI) circuits. For commercial applications, NCL circuits, and QDI circuits in general, are often synthesized from synchronous intellectual property designs. The resulting NCL design may then be further optimized and tinkered with. Therefore, the author have designed an equivalence checker that can be used in two ways: (1) to verify the functional equivalence of two NCL designs and (2) to verify the equivalence between an NCL design and a synchronous design.