SEQUENTIAL STRUCTURE EXTRACTION BY FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION

A method and apparatus for structure analysis of a circuit design are described. In one exemplary embodiment, a functional specification of a circuit design is received, where the functional specification is defined based on a behavior layer abstraction. In addition, design codes for the circuit design are received, wherein in each design code of the design codes is defined based on the behavior layer abstraction. Furthermore, the design codes are searched, which is performed in the behavior layer abstraction, for one or more of the design codes that satisfy the functional specification. Each of the design codes that satisfy the functional specification is therefore recognized.