This is a presentation of the theory and practice of chip design using ordered binary decision diagrams (OBDD), a method for simulating and testing complex chips. The text examines techniques such as chip error recognition, maximal integration and deep submicron.

One of the main problems in chip design is the huge number of possible combinations of individual chip elements, leading to a combinatorial explosion as chips become more complex. New key results in theoretical computer science and in the design of data structures and efficient algorithms, can be applied fruitfully here. The application of ordered binary decision diagrams (OBDDs) has led to dramatic performance improvements in many computer-aided design projects. This textbook provides an introduction to the foundations of this interdisciplinary research area with an emphasis on applications in computer-aided circuit design and formal verification.

Introduction.- Basics.- Part I. Data Structures for Switching Functions.- Boolean Functions.- Classic Representations.- Requirements to Data Structures in Formal Circuit Verification.- Part II. OBDDs: An Efficient Data Structure.- Ordered Binary Decision Diagrams.- Efficient Implementation of OBDDs.- Influence of the Variable Order on the Complexity of OBDDs.- Optimizing the Variable Order.- Part III. Applications and Extensions.- Analysis of Sequential Systems.- Symbolic Model Checking.- Variants and Extensions of OBDDs.- Transformation Techniques for Optimizations.- Bibliography.- Index.