Gerhard W. Dueck

A transformation based algorithm for reversible logic synthesis

A digital combinational logic circuit is reversible if it maps each input pattern to a unique output pattern. Such circuits are of interest in quantum computing, optical computing, nanotechnology and low-power CMOS design. Synthesis approaches are not well developed for reversible circuits even for small numbers of inputs and outputs. In this paper, a transformation based algorithm for the synthesis of such a reversible circuit in terms of n /spl times/ n Toffoli gates is presented. Initially, a circuit is constructed by a single pass through the specification with minimal look-ahead and no back-tracking. Reduction rules are then applied by simple template matching. The method produces very good results for larger problems.

RevLib: An Online Resource for Reversible Functions and Reversible Circuits

Synthesis of reversible logic has become an active research area in the last years. But many proposed algorithms are evaluated with a small set of benchmarks only. Furthermore, results are often documented only in terms of gate counts or quantum costs, rather than presenting the specific circuit. In this paper RevLib (www.revlib.org) is introduced, an online resource for reversible functions and reversible circuits. RevLib provides a large database of functions with respective circuit realizations. RevLib is designed to ease the evaluation of new methods and facilitate the comparison of results. In addition, tools are introduced to support researchers in evaluating their algorithms and documenting their results.

Toffoli network synthesis with templates

Reversible logic functions can be realized as networks of Toffoli gates. The synthesis of Toffoli networks can be divided into two steps. First, find a network that realizes the desired function. Second, transform the network such that it uses fewer gates, while realizing the same function. This paper addresses the above synthesis approach. We present a basic method and, based on that, a bidirectional synthesis algorithm which produces a network of Toffoli gates realizing a given reversible specification. An asymptotically optimal modification of the basic synthesis algorithm employing generalized mEXOR gates is also presented. Transformations are then applied using template matching. The basis for a template is a network of gates that realizes the identity function. If a sequence of gates in the synthesized network matches a sequence comprised of more than half the gates in a template, then a transformation using the remaining gates in the template can be applied resulting in a reduction in the gate count for the synthesized network. All templates with up to six gates are described in this paper. Experimental results including an exhaustive examination of all 3-variable reversible functions and a collection of benchmark problems are presented. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research.

Reversible cascades with minimal garbage

The problem of minimizing the number of garbage outputs is an important issue in reversible logic design. We start with the analysis of the number of garbage outputs that must be added to a multiple output function to make it reversible. We give a precise formula for the theoretical minimum of the required number of garbage outputs. For some benchmark functions, we calculate the garbage required by some proposed reversible design methods and compare it to the theoretical minimum. Based on the information about minimal garbage, we suggest a new reversible design method that uses the minimum number of garbage outputs. We show that any Boolean function can be realized as a reversible network in terms of this new approach by giving the theoretical method of finding such a network. Using a heuristics synthesis approach, we create a program and run it to compare results of our synthesis to the previously reported synthesis results for the benchmark functions with up to ten variables. Finally, we show that the synthesis for the proposed model can be accomplished with lower cost than the synthesis of EXOR programmable logic arrays.

Techniques for the synthesis of reversible Toffoli networks

We present certain new techniques for the synthesis of reversible networks of Toffoli gates, as well as improvements to previous methods. Gate count and technology oriented cost metrics are used. Two new synthesis procedures employing Reed-Muller spectra are introduced and shown to complement earlier synthesis approaches. The previously proposed template simplification method is enhanced through the introduction of a faster and more efficient template application algorithm, an updated classification of the templates, and the addition of new templates of sizes 7 and 9. A resynthesis approach is introduced wherein a sequence of gates is chosen from a network, and the reversible specification it realizes is resynthesized as an independent problem in hopes of reducing the network cost. Empirical results are presented to show that the methods are efficient in terms of the realization of reversible benchmark specifications.

Exact Multiple-Control Toffoli Network Synthesis With SAT Techniques

Synthesis of reversible logic has become a very important research area in recent years. Applications can be found in the domain of low-power design, optical computing, and quantum computing. In the past, several approaches have been introduced that synthesize reversible networks with respect to a given function. Most of these methods only approximate a minimal network representation. In this paper, exact algorithms for the synthesis of multiple-control Toffoli networks are presented, i.e., algorithms that guarantee to find a network with the minimal number of gates. Our iterative algorithms formulate the synthesis problem as a sequence of decision problems. The decision problems are encoded as Boolean satisfiability (SAT) or SAT modulo theory (SMT) instances, respectively. As soon as one of these instances becomes satisfiable, a Toffoli network representation for the given function has been found. We show that choosing the encoding for synthesis is crucial for the resulting runtimes. Furthermore, we discuss the principal limits of the SAT and SMT approaches. To overcome these limits, we propose a method using problem-specific knowledge during synthesis. In addition, better embeddings to make irreversible functions reversible are considered. For the resulting synthesis problems, an improvement is presented that reduces the overall runtime by automatically setting the constant inputs to their optimal values. Experimental results on a large set of benchmarks demonstrate the differences between three exact synthesis algorithms. In addition, a comparison with the best-known heuristic results is provided. In summary, the results show that, for some benchmarks, the heuristic approaches have already found the minimal network, while for other benchmarks, significantly smaller networks exist.

Quantum Circuit Simplification Using Templates

Optimal synthesis of quantum circuits is intractable and heuristic methods must be employed. Templates are a general approach to reversible quantum circuit simplification. We consider the use of templates to simplify a quantum circuit initially found by other means. We present and analyze templates in the general case, and then provide particular details for circuits composed of NOT, CNOT and controlled-sqrt-of-NOT gates. We introduce templates for this set of gates and apply them to simplify both known quantum realizations of Toffoli gates and circuits found by earlier heuristic Fredkin and Toffoli gate synthesis algorithms. While the number of templates is quite small, the reduction in quantum cost is often significant.

Synthesis of Fredkin-Toffoli reversible networks

Reversible logic has applications in quantum computing, low power CMOS, nanotechnology, optical computing, and DNA computing. The most common reversible gates are the Toffoli gate and the Fredkin gate. We present a method that synthesizes a network with these gates in two steps. First, our synthesis algorithm finds a cascade of Toffoli and Fredkin gates with no backtracking and minimal look-ahead. Next we apply transformations that reduce the number of gates in the network. Transformations are accomplished via template matching. The basis for a template is a network with m gates that realizes the identity function. If a sequence of gates in the network to be reduced matches a sequence of gates comprising more than half of a template, then a transformation that reduces the gate count can be applied. We have synthesized all three input, three output reversible functions and here compare our results to the optimal results. We also present the results of applying our synthesis tool to obtain networks for a number of benchmark functions.

Simplification of Toffoli networks via templates

Reversible logic functions can be realized as networks of Toffoli gates. The synthesis of Toffoli networks can be divided into two steps. First, find a network that realizes the desired junction. Second, transform the network such that it uses fewer gates, while realizing the same function. This paper addresses the second step. Transformations are accomplished via template matching. The basis for a template is a network with m gates that realizes the identity function. If a sequence in the network to be synthesized matches more than half of a template, then a transformation reducing the gate count can be applied. All templates for m/spl les/7 are described in this paper.

Exact sat-based toffoli network synthesis

Compact realizations of reversible logic functions are of interest in the design of quantum computers. Such reversible functions are realized as a cascade of Toffoli gates. In this paper, we present the first exact synthesis algorithm for reversible functions using generalized Toffoligates. Our iterative algorithm formulates the synthesis problem with d Toffoli gates as a sequence of Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) instances. Such an instance is satisfiable if there exists a network representation with d gates. Thus, we can guarantee minimality. In addition to fully specified reversible functions, the algorithm can be applied to incompletely specified functions. For a set of benchmarks experimental results are given.