A Fast Heuristic Algorithm for Redundancy Removal

TL;DR

This paper introduces a fast heuristic algorithm for redundancy removal in combinational circuits that outperforms traditional heuristics like FIRE by removing more redundancies without increasing runtime.

Contribution

The paper proposes a new heuristic approach that significantly improves redundancy removal efficiency over existing methods like FIRE.

Findings

Removes 37% more redundancies than FIRE on average

Operates with no penalty in runtime

Suitable for intermediate redundancy removal steps

Abstract

Redundancy identification is an important step of the design flow that typically follows logic synthesis and optimization. In addition to reducing circuit area, power consumption, and delay, redundancy removal also improves testability. All commercially available synthesis tools include a redundancy removal engine which is often run multiple times on the same netlist during optimization. This paper presents a fast heuristic algorithm for redundancy removal in combinational circuits. Our idea is to provide a quick partial solution which can be used for the intermediate redundancy removal runs instead of exact ATPG or SAT-based approaches. The presented approach has a higher implication power than the traditional heuristic algorithms, such as FIRE, e.g. on average it removes 37% more redundancies than FIRE with no penalty in runtime.