This can pave the way for further transformations by exposing
identities that were previously hidden in a process to any pass that
uses SigMap. Indeed, this commit removes some ad-hoc logic from
proc_init that appears to have been tailored to the output of
genrtlil in favor of using `SigMap.apply()`. (This removal is not
optional, as the ad-hoc logic cannot cope with the result of running
proc_prune; a similar issue was fixed in proc_arst.)
The proc_prune pass is similar in nature to proc_rmdead pass: while
proc_rmdead removes branches that never become active because another
branch preempts it, proc_prune removes assignments that never become
active because another assignment preempts them.
Genrtlil contains logic similar to the proc_prune pass, but their
purpose is different: genrtlil has to prune assignments to adapt
the semantics of blocking assignments in HDLs (latest assignment
wins) to semantics of assignments in RTLIL processes (assignment in
the most specific case wins). On the other hand proc_prune is
a general purpose RTLIL simplification that benefits all frontends,
even those not using the Yosys AST library.
The proc_prune pass is added to the proc script after proc_rmdead,
since it gives better results with fewer branches.
whitequark