VLSI CAD Tools and Applications


Book Description

The summer school on VLSf GAD Tools and Applications was held from July 21 through August 1, 1986 at Beatenberg in the beautiful Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. The meeting was given under the auspices of IFIP WG 10. 6 VLSI, and it was sponsored by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland. Eighty-one professionals were invited to participate in the summer school, including 18 lecturers. The 81 participants came from the following countries: Australia (1), Denmark (1), Federal Republic of Germany (12), France (3), Italy (4), Norway (1), South Korea (1), Sweden (5), United Kingdom (1), United States of America (13), and Switzerland (39). Our goal in the planning for the summer school was to introduce the audience into the realities of CAD tools and their applications to VLSI design. This book contains articles by all 18 invited speakers that lectured at the summer school. The reader should realize that it was not intended to publish a textbook. However, the chapters in this book are more or less self-contained treatments of the particular subjects. Chapters 1 and 2 give a broad introduction to VLSI Design. Simulation tools and their algorithmic foundations are treated in Chapters 3 to 5 and 17. Chapters 6 to 9 provide an excellent treatment of modern layout tools. The use of CAD tools and trends in the design of 32-bit microprocessors are the topics of Chapters 10 through 16. Important aspects in VLSI testing and testing strategies are given in Chapters 18 and 19.




Automatic Programming Applied to VLSI CAD Software: A Case Study


Book Description

This book, and the research it describes, resulted from a simple observation we made sometime in 1986. Put simply, we noticed that many VLSI design tools looked "alike". That is, at least at the overall software architecture level, the algorithms and data structures required to solve problem X looked much like those required to solve problem X'. Unfortunately, this resemblance is often of little help in actually writing the software for problem X' given the software for problem X. In the VLSI CAD world, technology changes rapidly enough that design software must continually strive to keep up. And of course, VLSI design software, and engineering design software in general, is often exquisitely sensitive to some aspects of the domain (technology) in which it operates. Modest changes in functionality have an unfortunate tendency to require substantial (and time-consuming) internal software modifications. Now, observing that large engineering software systems are technology dependent is not particularly clever. However, we believe that our approach to xiv Preface dealing with this problem took an interesting new direction. We chose to investigate the extent to which automatic programming ideas cold be used to synthesize such software systems from high-level specifications. This book is one of the results of that effort.




Evolutionary Algorithms for VLSI CAD


Book Description

In VLSI CAD, difficult optimization problems have to be solved on a constant basis. Various optimization techniques have been proposed in the past. While some of these methods have been shown to work well in applications and have become somewhat established over the years, other techniques have been ignored. Recently, there has been a growing interest in optimization algorithms based on principles observed in nature, termed Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs). Evolutionary Algorithms in VLSI CAD presents the basic concepts of EAs, and considers the application of EAs in VLSI CAD. It is the first book to show how EAs could be used to improve IC design tools and processes. Several successful applications from different areas of circuit design, like logic synthesis, mapping and testing, are described in detail. Evolutionary Algorithms in VLSI CAD consists of two parts. The first part discusses basic principles of EAs and provides some easy-to-understand examples. Furthermore, a theoretical model for multi-objective optimization is presented. In the second part a software implementation of EAs is supplied together with detailed descriptions of several EA applications. These applications cover a wide range of VLSI CAD, and different methods for using EAs are described. Evolutionary Algorithms in VLSI CAD is intended for CAD developers and researchers as well as those working in evolutionary algorithms and techniques supporting modern design tools and processes.




Machine Learning in VLSI Computer-Aided Design


Book Description

This book provides readers with an up-to-date account of the use of machine learning frameworks, methodologies, algorithms and techniques in the context of computer-aided design (CAD) for very-large-scale integrated circuits (VLSI). Coverage includes the various machine learning methods used in lithography, physical design, yield prediction, post-silicon performance analysis, reliability and failure analysis, power and thermal analysis, analog design, logic synthesis, verification, and neuromorphic design. Provides up-to-date information on machine learning in VLSI CAD for device modeling, layout verifications, yield prediction, post-silicon validation, and reliability; Discusses the use of machine learning techniques in the context of analog and digital synthesis; Demonstrates how to formulate VLSI CAD objectives as machine learning problems and provides a comprehensive treatment of their efficient solutions; Discusses the tradeoff between the cost of collecting data and prediction accuracy and provides a methodology for using prior data to reduce cost of data collection in the design, testing and validation of both analog and digital VLSI designs. From the Foreword As the semiconductor industry embraces the rising swell of cognitive systems and edge intelligence, this book could serve as a harbinger and example of the osmosis that will exist between our cognitive structures and methods, on the one hand, and the hardware architectures and technologies that will support them, on the other....As we transition from the computing era to the cognitive one, it behooves us to remember the success story of VLSI CAD and to earnestly seek the help of the invisible hand so that our future cognitive systems are used to design more powerful cognitive systems. This book is very much aligned with this on-going transition from computing to cognition, and it is with deep pleasure that I recommend it to all those who are actively engaged in this exciting transformation. Dr. Ruchir Puri, IBM Fellow, IBM Watson CTO & Chief Architect, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center




Database and Expert Systems Applications


Book Description

The Database and Expert Systems Applications - DEXA - conferences are dedi cated to providing an international forum for the presentation of applications in the database and expert systems field, for the exchange of ideas and experiences, and for defining requirements for the future systems in these fields. After the very promising DEXA 90 in Vienna, Austria, we hope to have successfully established wjth this year's DEXA 91 a stage where scientists from diverse fields interested in application-oriented research can present and discuss their work. This year there was a total of more than 250 submitted papers from 28 different countries, in all continents. Only 98 of the papers could be accepted. The collection of papers in these proceedings offers a cross-section of the issues facing the area of databases and expert systems, i.e., topics of basic research interest on one hand and questions occurring when developing applications on the other. Major credit for the success of the conference goes to all of our colleagues who submitted papers for consideration and to those who have organized and chaired the panel sessions. Many persons contributed numerous hours to organize this conference. The names of most of them will appear on the following pages. In particular we wish to thank the Organization Committee Chairmen Johann Gordesch, A Min Tjoa, and Roland Wag ner, who also helped establishing the program. Special thanks also go to Gabriella Wagner and Anke Ruckert. Dimitris Karagiannis General Conference Chairman Contents Conference Committee.




Algorithms and Data Structures in VLSI Design


Book Description

One of the main problems in chip design is the enormous number of possible combinations of individual chip elements within a system, and the problem of their compatibility. The recent application of data structures, efficient algorithms, and ordered binary decision diagrams (OBDDs) has proven vital in designing the computer chips of tomorrow. This book provides an introduction to the foundations of this interdisciplinary research area, emphasizing its applications in computer aided circuit design.




Handbook of VLSI Chip Design and Expert Systems


Book Description

Handbook of VLSI Chip Design and Expert Systems provides information pertinent to the fundamental aspects of expert systems, which provides a knowledge-based approach to problem solving. This book discusses the use of expert systems in every possible subtask of VLSI chip design as well as in the interrelations between the subtasks. Organized into nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of design automation, which can be identified as Computer-Aided Design of Circuits and Systems (CADCAS). This text then presents the progress in artificial intelligence, with emphasis on expert systems. Other chapters consider the impact of design automation, which exploits the basic capabilities of computers to perform complex calculations and to handle huge amounts of data with a high speed and accuracy. This book discusses as well the characterization of microprocessors. The final chapter deals with interactive I/O devices. This book is a valuable resource for system design experts, circuit analysts and designers, logic designers, device engineers, technologists, and application-specific designers.




Digital VLSI Systems Design


Book Description

This book provides step-by-step guidance on how to design VLSI systems using Verilog. It shows the way to design systems that are device, vendor and technology independent. Coverage presents new material and theory as well as synthesis of recent work with complete Project Designs using industry standard CAD tools and FPGA boards. The reader is taken step by step through different designs, from implementing a single digital gate to a massive design consuming well over 100,000 gates. All the design codes developed in this book are Register Transfer Level (RTL) compliant and can be readily used or amended to suit new projects.




Technology Computer Aided Design


Book Description

Responding to recent developments and a growing VLSI circuit manufacturing market, Technology Computer Aided Design: Simulation for VLSI MOSFET examines advanced MOSFET processes and devices through TCAD numerical simulations. The book provides a balanced summary of TCAD and MOSFET basic concepts, equations, physics, and new technologies related to TCAD and MOSFET. A firm grasp of these concepts allows for the design of better models, thus streamlining the design process, saving time and money. This book places emphasis on the importance of modeling and simulations of VLSI MOS transistors and TCAD software. Providing background concepts involved in the TCAD simulation of MOSFET devices, it presents concepts in a simplified manner, frequently using comparisons to everyday-life experiences. The book then explains concepts in depth, with required mathematics and program code. This book also details the classical semiconductor physics for understanding the principle of operations for VLSI MOS transistors, illustrates recent developments in the area of MOSFET and other electronic devices, and analyzes the evolution of the role of modeling and simulation of MOSFET. It also provides exposure to the two most commercially popular TCAD simulation tools Silvaco and Sentaurus. • Emphasizes the need for TCAD simulation to be included within VLSI design flow for nano-scale integrated circuits • Introduces the advantages of TCAD simulations for device and process technology characterization • Presents the fundamental physics and mathematics incorporated in the TCAD tools • Includes popular commercial TCAD simulation tools (Silvaco and Sentaurus) • Provides characterization of performances of VLSI MOSFETs through TCAD tools • Offers familiarization to compact modeling for VLSI circuit simulation R&D cost and time for electronic product development is drastically reduced by taking advantage of TCAD tools, making it indispensable for modern VLSI device technologies. They provide a means to characterize the MOS transistors and improve the VLSI circuit simulation procedure. The comprehensive information and systematic approach to design, characterization, fabrication, and computation of VLSI MOS transistor through TCAD tools presented in this book provides a thorough foundation for the development of models that simplify the design verification process and make it cost effective.




Modern VLSI Design


Book Description

For Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering courses that cover the design and technology of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits and systems. May also be used as a VLSI reference for professional VLSI design engineers, VLSI design managers, and VLSI CAD engineers. Modern VSLI Design provides a comprehensive “bottom-up” guide to the design of VSLI systems, from the physical design of circuits through system architecture with focus on the latest solution for system-on-chip (SOC) design. Because VSLI system designers face a variety of challenges that include high performance, interconnect delays, low power, low cost, and fast design turnaround time, successful designers must understand the entire design process. The Third Edition also provides a much more thorough discussion of hardware description languages, with introduction to both Verilog and VHDL. For that reason, this book presents the entire VSLI design process in a single volume.