{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4411032163","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3742430","title":"Exploring Large Language Models for Hierarchical Hardware Circuit and Testbench Generation","display_name":"Exploring Large Language Models for Hierarchical Hardware Circuit and Testbench Generation","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-06-04","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4411032163","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3742430"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3742430","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3742430","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S105046310","display_name":"ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems","issn_l":"1084-4309","issn":["1084-4309","1557-7309"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319798","host_organization_name":"Association for Computing Machinery","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319798"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computing Machinery"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3742430","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5117831524","display_name":"Samuel Gomes Lopes","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I35440088","display_name":"ETH Zurich","ror":"https://ror.org/05a28rw58","country_code":"CH","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2799323385","https://openalex.org/I35440088"]}],"countries":["CH"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Samuel Gomes Lopes","raw_affiliation_strings":["D-INFK, ETH Zurich","D-INFK, ETH Zurich, Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8075-4327","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"D-INFK, ETH Zurich","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"D-INFK, ETH Zurich, Z\u00fcrich, Switzerland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5087479741","display_name":"Shien Zhu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2094-7643"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I35440088","display_name":"ETH Zurich","ror":"https://ror.org/05a28rw58","country_code":"CH","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2799323385","https://openalex.org/I35440088"]}],"countries":["CH"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shien Zhu","raw_affiliation_strings":["D-INFK, ETH Zurich","D-INFK, ETH Zurich, Z\u00fcrich Switzerland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2094-7643","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"D-INFK, ETH Zurich","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"D-INFK, ETH Zurich, Z\u00fcrich Switzerland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5103144919","display_name":"Gustavo Alonso","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4396-6695"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I35440088","display_name":"ETH Zurich","ror":"https://ror.org/05a28rw58","country_code":"CH","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I2799323385","https://openalex.org/I35440088"]}],"countries":["CH"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Gustavo Alonso","raw_affiliation_strings":["D-INFK, ETH Zurich","D-INFK, ETH Zurich, Z\u00fcrich Switzerland"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4396-6695","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"D-INFK, ETH Zurich","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"D-INFK, ETH Zurich, Z\u00fcrich Switzerland","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":3,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5117831524"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I35440088"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.11115681,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"30","issue":"6","first_page":"1","last_page":"39"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10054","display_name":"Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques","score":0.9983999729156494,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1708","display_name":"Hardware and Architecture"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10054","display_name":"Parallel Computing and Optimization Techniques","score":0.9983999729156494,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1708","display_name":"Hardware and Architecture"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10743","display_name":"Software Testing and Debugging Techniques","score":0.9962999820709229,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1712","display_name":"Software"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.9952999949455261,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.9053042531013489},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-architecture","display_name":"Computer architecture","score":0.5258933901786804},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-hardware","display_name":"Computer hardware","score":0.45650655031204224},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/programming-language","display_name":"Programming language","score":0.39138367772102356},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/embedded-system","display_name":"Embedded system","score":0.35489165782928467}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.9053042531013489},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C118524514","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q173212","display_name":"Computer architecture","level":1,"score":0.5258933901786804},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C9390403","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3966","display_name":"Computer hardware","level":1,"score":0.45650655031204224},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199360897","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9143","display_name":"Programming language","level":1,"score":0.39138367772102356},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C149635348","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193040","display_name":"Embedded system","level":1,"score":0.35489165782928467}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3742430","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3742430","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S105046310","display_name":"ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems","issn_l":"1084-4309","issn":["1084-4309","1557-7309"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319798","host_organization_name":"Association for Computing Machinery","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319798"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computing Machinery"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3742430","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3742430","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S105046310","display_name":"ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems","issn_l":"1084-4309","issn":["1084-4309","1557-7309"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319798","host_organization_name":"Association for Computing Machinery","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319798"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Association for Computing Machinery"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by-nc-nd","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":10,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W3144936678","https://openalex.org/W3169517138","https://openalex.org/W4388040405","https://openalex.org/W4389166737","https://openalex.org/W4391681217","https://openalex.org/W4395074196","https://openalex.org/W4400702366","https://openalex.org/W4403023622","https://openalex.org/W4409285469","https://openalex.org/W6913065645"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4391375266","https://openalex.org/W2899084033","https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2390279801","https://openalex.org/W4391913857","https://openalex.org/W2358668433","https://openalex.org/W4396701345","https://openalex.org/W2376932109","https://openalex.org/W2001405890","https://openalex.org/W4396696052"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Designing":[0],"and":[1,25,116,121,124,156,174,227,233,252],"verifying":[2],"hardware":[3,18,98,278],"circuits":[4,82,159,192,232,251],"using":[5,58],"a":[6,30,111,132,178,207,236],"Hardware":[7],"Description":[8],"Language":[9,36],"(HDL)":[10],"is":[11,67],"an":[12,271],"essential":[13],"but":[14,258],"time-consuming":[15],"part":[16],"of":[17,242],"design.":[19,279],"Generating":[20],"the":[21,92,140,147,172,213,243],"desired":[22],"correct":[23,80,248],"circuit":[24,63,173],"testbench":[26,175],"code":[27,44],"usually":[28],"requires":[29],"significant":[31],"engineering":[32,50,95,150],"effort.":[33],"Recently,":[34],"Large":[35],"Models":[37],"(LLMs)":[38],"have":[39,42],"claimed":[40],"to":[41,47,138,170,198,221,225],"strong":[43],"generation":[45,108],"capabilities":[46],"reduce":[48],"such":[49],"costs.":[51],"Existing":[52],"work":[53],"has":[54,195],"provided":[55],"quantitative":[56],"evaluations":[57],"LLMs":[59,72,105,185,245,276],"for":[60,97,106,277],"single-module,":[61],"simple":[62,223,249],"generation.":[64],"However,":[65],"it":[66],"still":[68,259],"unclear":[69],"whether":[70],"modern":[71],"are":[73,88,91],"useful":[74,205,268],"in":[75,206],"production":[76,208],"workflows,":[77],"e.g.,":[78],"generating":[79,153],"hierarchical":[81,122,231,250,263],"with":[83,127,160,186,197,254,261],"testbenches.":[84,234],"And":[85],"if":[86],"they":[87],"capable,":[89],"what":[90],"best":[93,148],"prompt":[94,149,187,215],"practices":[96,151,216],"design?":[99],"In":[100],"this":[101],"article,":[102],"we":[103,145,182,211,238],"evaluate":[104,171],"HDL":[107],"by":[109],"exploring":[110],"3-dimensional":[112],"design":[113,134],"space:":[114],"commercial":[115],"open-source":[117],"language":[118],"models,":[119],"single-module":[120,158,191],"circuits,":[123],"prompting":[125],"methods":[126],"varying":[128],"complexity.":[129],"We":[130,164,265],"propose":[131],"3-step":[133],"space":[135],"exploration":[136],"methodology":[137],"answer":[139],"two":[141,167],"aforementioned":[142],"questions.":[143],"First,":[144],"explore":[146],"across":[152],"simple,":[154],"middle,":[155],"hard":[157],"testbenches":[161,253],"on":[162,189,217,274],"CodeLLama-34B.":[163],"also":[165],"define":[166],"fine-grained":[168],"checklists":[169],"quality":[176],"from":[177,270],"user\u2019s":[179],"perspective.":[180],"Second,":[181],"benchmark":[183],"11":[184],"adaptation":[188],"4":[190],"that":[193,202,240],"CodeLLama-34B":[194],"trouble":[196],"further":[199,266],"find":[200,239],"models":[201,220],"may":[203],"be":[204],"workflow.":[209],"Third,":[210],"apply":[212],"learned":[214],"four":[218],"top-level":[219],"generate":[222,247],"2":[224],"4-module":[226],"more":[228],"complex":[229,262],"multi-module":[230],"As":[235],"result,":[237],"some":[241],"latest":[244],"can":[246],"given":[255],"proper":[256],"prompts,":[257],"struggle":[260],"circuits.":[264],"provide":[267],"guidelines":[269],"end-user\u2019s":[272],"perspective":[273],"leveraging":[275]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2025-11-06T03:46:38.306776","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}
