Extraction of logical networks during decompiling transistor-level CMOS circuit descriptions

Objectives. The problem of restoring the functional description of digital VLSI devices presented at the transistor level is considered. The objective of the work is to develop means for extraction of blocks representing logical networks from two-level descriptions of CMOS circuits at the transistor level, which were obtained as a result of recognition (extraction) of subcircuits that implement logic elements.

Methods. Graph based methods and software tools are proposed for extracting a connected blocks representing a logical network from two-level descriptions of a transistor circuits in SPICE format. In the graph interpretation, the task is reduced to constructing a labeled directed graph of a logical network based on a labeled undirected bipartite graph specifying a two-level description of the transistor circuit.

Results. The proposed method makes it possible to identify lexicographically ranked logical networks, from which a transition is made to logical equations that specify the functions implemented at the outputs of the resulting networks. Software tools have been developed that provide the generation of a hierarchical description in SPICE format that implements the original circuit at the transistor level, as well as descriptions of found logical networks in the SF language of hierarchical structural and functional descriptions of discrete devices and in high-level languages (VHDL and Verilog).

Conclusion. The developed methods are implemented in C++, included in the program for decompiling transistor CMOS circuits and tested within it on practical examples of transistor-level circuits. The paper provides examples of reverse engineering of some practical transistor circuits.

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