Dr. Robert Brayton

From the University of California at Berkeley, CA

Authors

Dr. Robert Brayton - Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA

Abstract

Professor Brayton described his two-part, 47-year career in EDA, starting out in the Mathematical Sciences Department at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights NY. Back in 1961 there was essentially no EDA, and Brayton initially worked on theoretical methods for nonlinear circuits. He described the current technologies used back then including transistors, computers, memory, and writing technical papers. After a few years at IBM he got involved in EDA through circuit simulation and trying to answer a question of why a 6-transistor circuit was taking so long to solve numerically. This work (with Gary Hachtel and Fred Gustavson) evolved into the IBM ASTAP-II program (a SPICE-like simulator), using a new formulation of circuit equations, sparse matrix solving, and stiff numerical methods. Later he got involved in logic synthesis, initially through trying to understand and program a method for mapping logic into a complex circuit family. This led to more work on exotic circuits and eventually a very productive summer of work on logic synthesis with colleagues Alberto Sangiovanni and Gary Hachtel. This work led to the MIS/SIS logic synthesis systems at UC Berkeley where he moved to in 1987. Work in logic synthesis continued for many years and led to related methods in formal verification and the VIS formal verification system

More recent efforts were in multi-valued logic synthesis and the MVSIS system and the current system, ABC, for sequential synthesis and verification being developed with his colleague Alan Mishchenko. He ended up his talk by citing a number of factors that led to his successful career - choosing the right jobs, choosing talented and knowledgeable colleagues and students, having a lot of luck, and getting into areas early. His advice when asked what he thought would be the next relevant area to work on was to not take his advice - he has been wrong too often - but to work on things that stir your passions.