RTLScout: Joint Agentic Code and Synthesis Optimization for Efficient Digital Circuits
For digital circuit designers, this work introduces a fully automated approach to RTL optimization that surpasses commercial tools, though it is domain-specific to hardware design.
RTLScout is an autonomous system combining LLM-driven agentic design with circuit-level synthesis optimization, achieving 35% area reduction and 45% delay reduction on an IEEE-754 16-bit floating-point multiplier in ASAP7 technology, outperforming a commercial-tool reference design.
We present RTLScout, an autonomous system that combines LLM-driven agentic design with circuit-level synthesis optimization and arithmetic architecture sweeps. An LLM agent iteratively writes, evaluates, and refines RTL designs using tool calls, guided by quantitative PPA (power, performance, area) feedback from Yosys and OpenROAD. We introduce a multi-run elite pool framework, where the best designs and lessons learned seed subsequent agent runs. The pipeline comprises four complementary phases: agentic code optimization, agentic gate-level rewriting, arithmetic architecture sweeps, and an optional high-effort gate-level refinement pass. On an IEEE-754-compliant 16-bit floating-point multiplier with subnormal support, RTLScout reduces area by 35% and delay by 45% relative to a starting design synthesized in ASAP7 technology. Each phase provides distinct improvements, and high-effort gate-level optimization is most effective as a refinement of already well-optimized designs rather than a substitute for earlier stages. The resulting Pareto front outperforms a commercial-tool reference design on the same technology.