A formally verified system for logic synthesis

Abstract

The correctness of a logic synthesis system is implemented and proved. The algorithm is based on the weak division algorithm for Boolean simplification previously presented. The implementation is in the programming language ML; and the proof is in the Nuprl proof development system. This study begins with a proof of the algorithm previously presented and extends it to a level of detail sufficient for proving the implementation of the system. In the process of developing the proof many definitions presented in previous accounts of the algorithms were clarified, and several errors in the implementation were discovered. The result is that the designs generated by the implementation can be claimed to be correct by construction, since the correctness of the system was proven.<>