A flexible hierarchical 3-D module assembler

ABSTRACT

A module assembler based on a design philosophy that is different from work reported in the literature is presented. Most assemblers are targeted for a "correct by construction" approach. However, the design philosophy in a mostly handcrafted high performance, high density chip is that of "correct by verification". Our module assembler is designed with a view to supporting highly flexible layout requirements (e.g., non-slicing, 3-d) and the ability to "assemble" a netlist for comparison with the netlist extracted from the polygon level layout.

REFERENCES

• 1: R. Mayo, Mocha chip: A system for the graphical design of VLSI module generators, IEEE International Conference on Computer Aided Design, 1986, pp. 74--77
• 2: W. M. Dai, T. Asano, and E. S. Kuh, Routing region definition and ordering scheme for building block layout, IEEE Transactions on CAD, Vol CAD-4, no. 3, 1985, pp. 189--197
• 3: H. Law and J. Mosby, An intelligent composition tool for regular and semi-regular VLSI structures, IEEE International Conference on Computer Aided Design, 1985, pp. 169--171
• 4: William Kao et al., C3: A system and methodology for the development of module generators, IEEE International Conference on Computer Aided Design, 1986, pp. 78--81
• 5: J. K. Ousterhout, A data structuring technique for VLSI tools, IEEE Transactions on CAD, Jan. 1984, pp. 87--99