SHiLA: Synthesizing High-Level Assertions for High-Speed Validation of High-Level Designs

In the past, assertions were mostly used to validate the system through the design and simulation process. Later, a new method known as assertion synthesis was introduced, which enabled the designers to use the assertions for high-speed hardware emulation and safety and reliability insurance after tape-out. Although the synthesis of the assertions at the register transfer level is proposed and implemented in several works, none of them can be adopted for high-level assertions. In this paper, we propose the SHiLA framework and a detailed implementation guide by which assertion synthesis can also be applied to the high-level design processes. The proposed method, which is fully tool independent, is not only an enabler to highspeed assertion-assisted simulation but can also be used in other scenarios that need assertion synthesis, as it has the minimum possible effect on the main design's performance.