How to build a hardware description and measurement system on an object-oriented programming language

Techniques are described for applying the mechanisms of object-oriented programming languages to hardware description. Some object-oriented language mechanisms, like inheritance, directly simplify CAD (computer-aided design) programs; others, like data abstraction, allow more powerful CAD mechanisms based on them to be created. The author describes: how to extend class inheritance and to integrate it with procedural construction to simplify the description of hardware; how to create measurement methods than can measure a module whose components are described at different levels of abstraction; and how to implement a consistency-maintenance engine that ensures the consistency of the data kept for the design. The author has implemented these features in Fred, an object-oriented modeling system for VLSI modules. Fred is implemented in Flavors, an object-oriented extension of Lisp. The author also discusses how to implement its features in other languages