The research is to design and build an interactive system for high speed electrical simulation of digital and analog circuits. Characteristics of the system are: simple to use, programmable, much faster than highly optimized simulators, capable of hierarchical and mixed mode simulation, and able to produce efficient code for parallel processors. Logical simulators have been greatly speeded up by compiling each circuit into a program to simulate that one circuit. Still, each kind of simulation requires that a separate circuit compiler be written and debugged. This research is extending this methodology from logical to electrical simulation. It is also general, in that it compiles a pair consisting of a circuit and a conventional interpretive simulator. The approach uses partial evaluators to do this compilation. Signals are implemented as real data values that can be assigned to variables, be put in data structures, and be arguments to signal processing functions. This allows a signal produced by a simulation to be used as a voltage or current source in a subsequent or simultaneous simulation. The proposed research is meritorious, relevant, and the approach is innovative. The prototype work of the P.I. is promising. Simulation is an important area, and the research will improve the state of the art in electrical simulation, making a fundamental advance. Results could be applied to a wide variety of simulation programs and computationally intensive programs. Professor Weise has already a distinguished record of achievement in IC design simulation, and should make significant contributions to the field.
