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arXiv:1402.0491

Complexity Analysis of Reversible Logic Synthesis

Anupam Chattopadhyay, Chander Chandak, Kaushik Chakraborty

Published Feb 3, 2014• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Reversible logic circuit is a necessary construction for achieving ultra low power dissipation as well as for prominent post-CMOS computing technologies such as Quantum computing. Consequently automatic synthesis of a Boolean function using elementary reversible logic gates has received significant research attention in recent times, creating the domain of reversible logic synthesis. In this paper, we study the complexity of reversible logic synthesis. The problem is separately studied for bounded-ancilla and ancilla-free optimal synthesis approaches. The computational complexity for both cases are linked to known/presumed hard problems. Finally, experiments are performed with a shortest-path based reversible logic synthesis approach and a (0-1) ILP-based formulation.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1402.0491

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Reversible logic circuit is a necessary construction for achieving ultra low power dissipation as well as for prominent post-CMOS computing technologies such as Quantum computing. Consequently automatic synthesis of a Boolean function using elementary reversible logic gates has received significant research attention in recent times, creating the domain of reversible logic synthesis. In this paper, we study the complexity of reversible logic synthesis. The problem is separately studied for bounded-ancilla and ancilla-free optimal synthesis approaches. The computational complexity for both cases are linked to known/presumed hard problems. Finally, experiments are performed with a shortest-path based reversible logic synthesis approach and a (0-1) ILP-based formulation.
Reversible computation is gaining increasing relevance in the context of several post-CMOS technologies, the most prominent of those being Quantum computing. One of the key theoretical problem pertaining to reversible logic synthesis is the upper bound of the gate count. Compared to the known bounds, the results obtained by optimal synthesis methods are significantly less. In this paper, we connect this problem with the multiplicative complexity analysis of classical Boolean functions. We explore the possibility of relaxing the ancilla and if that approach makes the upper bound tighter. Our results are negative. The ancilla-free synthesis methods by using transformations and by starting from an Exclusive Sum-of-Product (ESOP) formulation remain, theoretically, the synthesis methods for achieving least gate count for the cases where the number of variables nnn is <8< 8<8 and otherwise, respectively.
Reversible computation is a fundamental concept in quantum circuits and low-power design. As the demand for powerful and energy-efficient computing grows, novel design methods for reversible circuits become critical for achieving high performance with low power consumption. Current reversible circuit synthesis methodologies fall into two classes, each minimizing a different parameter in circuit complexity, but often result in relatively high values in another parameter. Post-synthesis optimizations moderate complexity parameters, basically by trading off between them. However, these optimizations depend on specific gate patterns and may not always meet design constraints effectively. This paper proposes a novel recursive decomposition scheme for large Boolean functions using a single-target gate model in reversible circuit synthesis. The proposed scheme systematically and efficiently manages the trade-off between reversible circuit complexity measures, offering gradually varying parameters at each level in the recursion. The scalability of the proposed approach is presented as a comprehensive complexity analysis for the mathematical model. Rather than providing a globally optimal solution, this approach offers a range of solutions, allowing designers to choose the most suitable option based on specific design constraints.
Reversible logic synthesis is emerging as a major research component for post-CMOS computing devices, in particular Quantum computing. In this work, we link the reversible logic synthesis problem to sorting algorithms. Based on our analysis, an alternative derivation of the worst-case complexity of generated reversible circuits is provided. Furthermore, a novel column-wise reversible logic synthesis method, termed RevCol, is designed with inspiration from radix sort. Extending the principles of RevCol, we present a hybrid reversible logic synthesis framework. The theoretical and experimental results are presented. The results are extensively benchmarked with state-of-the-art ancilla-free reversible logic synthesis methods.
Emerging technologies with asymptotic zero power dissipation, such as quantum computing, require the logical operations to be done in a reversible manner. In recent years, the problem of synthesizing Boolean functions in the reversible logic domain has gained significant research attention. The efficiency of the synthesis methods is measured in terms of quantum cost, gate cost, garbage lines, logic depth and speed of synthesis. In this paper, we present an approach based on Exclusive sum-of-Products (ESOP), which allows the user to explore the trade-off between quantum cost and garbage lines. The proposed technique adds a new dimension to the reversible logic synthesis solutions. We demonstrate by detailed experiments that controlled improvement in quantum cost and gate count by increasing garbage count can be achieved. In some cases, improved quantum cost and gate count compared to state-of-the-art synthesis methods are reported. Furthermore, we propose a novel rule-based approach to achieve ancilla-free reversible logic synthesis starting from an ESOP formulation.
Reversible computation is gaining increasing relevance in the context of several post-CMOS technologies, the most prominent of those being quantum computing. The problem of implementing a given Boolean function using a set of elementary reversible logic gates is known as reversible logic synthesis. Due to the presumed hardness of the reversible circuit synthesis problem, different heuristics have been proposed in the literature to reduce quantum cost (QC), gate count, and logical depth without using ancillary lines. Interestingly, none of these heuristics systematically utilize Fredkin gates. In this paper, we demonstrate, both theoretically and empirically, that accommodating Fredkin gates significantly improves the performance of reversible circuits.
Reversible logic became a promising alternative to traditional circuits because of its applications in emerging technologies such as quantum computing, low-power design, DNA computing, or nanotechnologies. As a result, synthesis of the respective circuits is an intensely studied topic. However, most synthesis methods are limited, because they rely on a truth table representation of the function to be synthesized. In this paper, the authors present a synthesis approach that is based on Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs). The authors propose a technique to derive reversible or quantum circuits from BDDs by substituting all nodes of the BDD with a cascade of Toffoli or quantum gates, respectively. Boolean functions containing more than a hundred of variables can efficiently be synthesized. More precisely, a circuit can be obtained from a given BDD using an algorithm with linear worst case behavior regarding run-time and space requirements. Furthermore, using the proposed approach, theoretical results known from BDDs can be transferred to reversible circuits. Experiments show better results (with respect to the circuit cost) and a significantly better scalability in comparison to previous synthesis approaches.