Digital system simulation based on a computational model

Simulation in digital system design is primarily used for validating the design and predicting performance. While the simulation model of an operational system can be validated by comparing the simulated behaviour with that of the actual system, particular care is required in the representation in the case of design simulation. System design simulation implies that the design and simulation models be the same or be derivable from one another. Digital systems carry out computations. In this paper, a powerful operational semantic model for computation, referred to as aQ-sequence, is introduced and used as the formal basis for design and simulation. TheQ-sequence is a multilevel model capable of representing the system design at any one of several levels of detail and is powerful enough to represent procedural or non-procedural and synchronous or asynchronous computations. TheQ-sequence enforces a structured approach to system design, the design beginning at the top and proceeding through successive levels of detail. Design problems such as register clashes and timing hazards are formally modelled using theQ-sequence.