4. Logical synthesis and physical design

Logical synthesis and physical design constitute the back-end of system design, as opposed to the front-end.

Logic synthesis is a design step that transforms an RTL description into a logic gate array (figure 13 ). This step is now carried out automatically using highly efficient commercial synthesis tools.

Physical design corresponds to the final stages of integrated circuit design (figure 13 ). The results represent the implementation to obtain the design of the masks needed to manufacture the circuit. The three main stages are placement, routing and verification of the physical design (layout). These design stages have been automated since the 1980s....