Patent ID: 8706467

Claim:
A method for simulating a circuit, comprising: during a first mode of the simulation, storing a set of primary signals and circuit relationships between the set of primary signals and a set of secondary signals associated with a portion of the circuit, wherein the set of primary signals are independent of gate outputs in the portion of the circuit, wherein the set of secondary signals are driven by gates in the portion of the circuit, and wherein said storing does not store the set of secondary signals; during a second mode of the simulation, storing dynamic changes in additional relationships between signals to the file, wherein the signals can include primary signals, secondary signals, or both, and wherein the stored dynamic changes specify a time duration when an additional relationship is to be applied to a signal; and determining a secondary signal value at a time instance by: determining whether or not the additional relationship is to be applied to the secondary signal at the time instance based on the stored dynamic changes in the additional relationships, in response to determining that the additional relationship is not to be applied to the secondary signal at the time instance, determining the secondary signal value by evaluating the stored circuit relationships based on the stored set of primary signals, and in response to determining that the additional relationship is to be applied to the secondary signal at the time instance, determining the secondary signal value by evaluating the additional relationship.