Veryifing low power functionality through rtl transformation

Abstract

A register transfer level (RTL) design is received which models a digital circuit in terms of the flow of digital signals. A power intent description is received which may include a description of power domains, identification of retention flops for each power domain, a list of isolation signals, and power switch definitions. A transformed RTL is produced accounting for functionality described in the power intent description. The transformed RTL includes flops designated as retention flops and non-retention flops. A retention flop module analyzes the flops to ensure that flops are properly designated as retention or non-retention flops. A verification module performs power aware sequential equivalence checking on various RTL and power intent descriptions to verify that RTL and power intent description outputs behave the same when accounting for power states.