PAFSV: a formal framework for specification and analysis of SystemVerilog

Abstract

We develop a process algebraic framework PAFSV for the formal specification and analysis of IEEE 1800TM SystemVerilog designs. The formal semantics of PAFSV is defined by means of deduction rules that associate a time transition system with a PAFSV process. A set of properties of PAFSV is presented for a notion of bisimilarity. PAFSV may be regarded as the formal language of a significant subset of IEEE 1800TM SystemVerilog. To show that PAFSV is useful for the formal specification and analysis of IEEE 1800TM SystemVerilog designs, we illustrate the use of PAFSV with a multiplexer, a synchronous reset D flip-flop and an arbiter.