Abstract

We suggest the use of a declarative programming language to design and describe circuits, concentrating on the use of higher-order functions to structure and simplify designs. In order to describe sequential circuits, we use a language, ¯fp, which abstracts from temporal iteration. The practicalities of vlsi design make regularity attractive, and we describe the use of familiar higher order functions to capture spatial iteration. By reasoning about circuits rather than signals (programs rather than data) one abstracts from the sequential nature of a circuit. By reasoning about forms of circuit (higher order functions) one can devise implementation strategies for whole classes of algorithms. Reasoning about ¯fp is formally quite similar to reasoning about fp. In this paper we identify the semantic content of the formal similarity between fp and ¯fp. This makes it possible to carry over from conventional functional programming those intuitions we have about algorithm design. It also m...

Citations