The high-level synthesis of digital systems

High-level synthesis systems start with an abstract behavioral specification of a digital system and find a register-transfer level structure that realizes the given behavior. The various tasks involved in developing a register-transfer level structure from an algorithmic level specification are described. In particular, it is shown how the high-level synthesis task can be decomposed into a number of distinct but not independent subtasks. The techniques that have been developed for solving those subtasks are presented. Areas related to high-level synthesis that are still open problems are examined.>