Report on existing CAD support for programmable devices

Computer-aided design (CAD) software for programmable logic devices (PLDs) provides the link between design for programmable logic and the fuse patterns required to program the devices. This article reports an investigation into the current state of CAD support for PLDs. The study was necessary background to defining the requirements of a logic synthesis system for PLDs. Aspects of PLD CAD systems of particular relevance are the specification languages and capabilities of the packages. These directly relate to components of the synthesis system and its output format. The article attempts to provide recommendations and conclusions with regard to this