Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences

This report describes an algorithm for automatically translating BIF system-level behavioral descriptions to behavioral VHDL. BIF is a new intermediate representation for behavioral synthesis, based on annotated state tables that supports user control of the synthesis process by allowing specification of partial design structures, unit bindings, and modification of the design at various levels of abstraction. This flexibility creates a need for behavioral verification of the design at each level of abstraction to provide feedback information to the user. Since VHDL is a well formalized, simulatable language it makes an ideal target for translation.

We discuss the complexities inherent in representing BIF's hierarchical state specifications in VHDL and examine a general model for the combined representation of hierarchy, timing, concurrency, and arbitrary state transitions in VHDL.

We conclude the report with several examples from a recently implemented translator.