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Course contents

  • Logic Synthesis Glossary
  • Logic Synthesis Cheatsheet
  • Synthesis Foundations14
    • Synthesis Flow Overview
    • Synthesizable RTL and Inference
    • Reading Netlists and Reports
  • Logic Optimisation and Mapping20
  • Constraints and Timing15
  • Sequential, FSM and Memory19
  • Datapath Synthesis14
  • Area, Power and Test14
  • Verification, ECO and Handoff15
  • Flows and Debugging15
  • Interview and Judgment11
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‹Logic Synthesis
  1. Topics
  2. Logic Synthesis
  3. Synthesis Foundations

Part 1 · Synthesis Foundations · Intermediate

Synthesis Foundations

What logic synthesis does, which RTL infers which hardware, and how to read netlists and reports.

  • 3topics
  • 14lessons

Synthesis Foundations cover what logic synthesis does and where it sits in the chip flow, which RTL constructs infer which hardware, and how to read the netlists and reports the tool produces. Everything later in the course assumes these readings.

Learning path through the synthesis foundations topics.
Suggested order. Flow first, then inference, then reports.

The three topics

Topic

Lessons

Description

Time

Synthesis Flow Overview

5

What logic synthesis does and where it sits: RTL and constraints in, netlist and reports out.

40 min

Synthesizable RTL and Inference

5

Which RTL constructs infer which hardware, and the latch and priority pitfalls.

40 min

Reading Netlists and Reports

4

Cell counts, area by cell type, fanout, and the longest path from real reports.

32 min

Tip

Before changing any RTL, predict the hardware it infers and confirm the prediction in the netlist. Inference first, reports second.

Check yourself Why does the same RTL give different netlists under different constraints?

Constraints steer optimisation and mapping, so a tighter target buys different cells and structures. The Synthesis Flow Overview topic shows the stages where that happens.

Interview

Typical screening questions from this part: name the flow stages, say which construct infers a latch, and read cell count and area from a stat report.

Related topics

  • Up: Logic Synthesis course hub

  • Next: Logic Optimisation and Mapping

  • See also: Constraints and Timing

  • See also: Sequential, FSM and Memory

  • See also: Datapath Synthesis

  • See also: Area, Power and Test

  • See also: Verification, ECO and Handoff

  • See also: Flows and Debugging

  • See also: Interview and Judgment

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See also

  • Logic Synthesis Glossary
  • Logic Optimisation and Mapping
  • Constraints and Timing