This book describes the Property Specification Language PSL, recently standardized as IEEE Standard 1850-2005. The text presents PSL using extensive examples in the form of timing diagrams and associated PSL properties, with a full chapter devoted to avoiding common errors.

This book describes the Property Specification Language PSL, recently standardized as IEEE Standard 1850-2005. PSL was specifically developed to fulfill the following requirements: easy to learn, write, and read; concise syntax; rigorously well-defined formal semantics; expressive power, permitting the specification for a large class of real world design properties; known efficient underlying algorithms in simulation, as well as formal verification. The text presents PSL using extensive examples in the form of timing diagrams and associated PSL properties. Primarily oriented to users of PSL for simulation, it also addresses formal verification. All the basic features of the language are covered, as well as advanced topics such as the use of PSL in multiply-clocked designs and the issue of embedding asynchronous properties in synchronous ones. A full chapter is devoted to errors commonly made by beginners, gathered through the authors' many years of experience in using and teaching the language.

Basic Temporal Properties.- Some Philosophy.- Weak vs. Strong Temporal Operators.- SERE Style.- Clocks.- Aborting a Property.- Some Convenient Constructs.- The Simple Subset.- The Boolean, Modeling, and Verification Layers.- Advanced Topics.- More Philosophy - High- vs. Low-level Assertions.- Common Errors.- Multiply-clocked Designs.

This book describes the Property Specification Language PSL, recently standardized as IEEE Standard 1850-2005. PSL was developed to fulfill the following requirements: easy to learn, write, and read; concise syntax; rigorously well-defined formal semantics; expressive power, permitting the specification for a large class of real world design properties; known efficient underlying algorithms in simulation, as well as formal verification. Basic features are covered, as well as advanced topics such as the use of PSL in multiply-clocked designs. A full chapter is devoted to common errors, gathered through the authors' many years of experience in using and teaching the language.