Method for graphically representing a digital device as a behavioral description with data and control flow elements, and for converting the behavioral description to a structural description

A method for capturing a digital device as a behavioral description and for converting the behavioral description to a structural description, said method comprising the steps of:

• constructing a behavioral description of a digital device upon a graphic display by graphically connecting a set of symbolic icons drawn from a fixed number of icons contained within an icon library having fewer than fifteen icons;
• mapping user-defined inputs to each of said symbolic icons to define a graphical model having data path attributes of said digital device;
• representing said graphical model as a matrix of data values corresponding to binary values at a plurality of internal states within said graphical model;
• applying a set of input values to said matrix of data values to modify said matrix and, simultaneous with rising edges of a clocking signal, monitoring the modified said matrix at select said internal states;
• determining events at the select said internal states, and determining transitions of said events at said internal states between said rising edges of the clocking cycle;
• and
• combining events and transitions of events to produce a finite state machine having control path information, and merging said control path information with said data path attributes to produce a structural description of said digital device.

A method for capturing a digital device as a behavioral description, for converting the behavioral description to a structural description, and for verifying the behavioral and structural descriptions of said digital device, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a library of less than fifteen descriptors which behaviorally describe any digital device to be modeled;
• placing symbolic icons representing at least two of said descriptors upon a graphic display and operationally connecting said icons with an arc to produce a behavioral description of a digital device;
• using a pull-down menu activated from selection of said placed icons, mapping entries made by a user to said pull-down menu to define a graphical model having data path attributes of said digital device;
• representing said graphic model as a matrix of data values corresponding to binary values at a plurality of internal states and an output state of said graphical model;
• applying a set of input values to said matrix of data values to modify said matrix and produce a sequence of output values;
• monitoring said a sequence of output values at the output state of said graphical model and, simultaneous with rising edges of a clocking signal, monitoring a resulting sequence of output values at select said internal states of said graphical model;
• determining events at the select said internal states, and determining transistions of said events at said internal states between said rising edges of the clocking cycle;
• combining events and transitions of events to produce a finite state machine having control path information, and merging said control path information with said data path attributes to produce a structural description of said digital device;
• representing said structural description as a matrix of register-transfer level (RTL) data values corresponding to binary values at said output state;
• and
• verifying the accuracy of said structural description by comparing the output values at the output state resulting from said applying step with the output values at the output state resulting from said representing step.