Computer-aided design for integrated circuits: trying to bridge the gap

CAD performance in the field of simulation, testing, and layout is compared to the increase of digital integrated systems complexity. This complexity already exceeds the fundamental limits of existing software, especially in the testing area. On the other hand, fully manual layout of VLSI leads to unreasonably long design times and extremely high risks. This will favor design automation methods in layout. Testability and layout will most likely impose some sacrifice of VLSI overcapacity to a more structured system architecture. This architecture will lead to testable dedicated VLSI system design through the use of automated design software to keep development costs low.     

The applicability of computer-aided design as a system engineering tool

The morphology of design and the process of design are examined in an effort to establish a commonality between component and system design which would permit the expansion of design automation. The characteristics of a design problem that make it amenable to computer-aided design (CAD) are defined. The capabilities of CAD for the solution of these problems are analyzed and the difficulties facing the implementer outlined. It is concluded that a methodology for CAD development is essential to its use as a system engineering tool and that among the other needs are: commonality of programs, transferability of programs, better efficiency, and standardization of tools and techniques.     

Creativity in design: the contribution of information technology

Efforts to improve the design process in new product development often take the form of new information technologies, and they have had varying degrees of success. This paper considers the modern technologies of design and their impact on creativity. The analysis considers such design issues as problem structure, engineering knowledge, expert systems, ideation and the social context of technologies that affect their adoption and use. There exists a general bias toward the goals of effective coordination over enhanced creativity in the systems supporting design. Suggestions for research and practice are discussed     

Managing CAD systems in mechanical design engineering

The results of an investigation into the management and use of CAD systems in ten manufacturing companies are reported. The goal of the research is to understand how engineers and managers perceive CAD systems, how work is restructured when CAD is used, and what barriers prevent the effective use of CAD systems. An introduction to CAD systems is presented, followed by a brief review of the latest literature relating to computer-aided design     

Trends in CAD of analog ICs

This article presents views on the current trends in the field of computer-aided design (CAD) of analog integrated circuits (ICs), as gathered from a broad survey. The survey was conducted across various academic institutions and semiconductor industries, as well as government research funding agencies. The survey requested in-depth responses and the results were qualitative in nature, therefore, no numerical tabulation was possible. The future directions for the analog CAD field as presented in the survey indicate a need for increased activity and developments. The article gives an overview of analog circuit design and then summarizes the survey results, which are fairly detailed and cover various aspects of the analog circuit design automation process     

Happy medium [EMC CAD tools]

Electromagnetic compatibility is becoming an important element in the design of virtually all equipment and systems connected to an electrical supply. Contemporary design practice is increasingly reliant on the use of computer-based tools to realise the maximum degree of automation in the design process. This trend is set to continue. Furthermore, in the design of complex systems, interactions between different facets of the design problem make concurrent engineering practices mandatory. In practice, irrespective of its technical capabilities, ease of use and cost of deployment are critical factors in determining the success of any design tool. If a CAD package is to be widely used within industry then it must be both user friendly and capable of running quickly on modest PC platforms; at the same time, offering the user the maximum possible physical insight into the nature and magnitude of the interactions affecting the design. This article describes an approach to EMC CAD tool development, based on collaborative work between the universities of York and Nottingham, which is designed to meet these exacting requirements     

Computer-aided design for VLSI circuit manufacturability

It is noted that the nominal design created by CAD tools must often be modified to maximize manufacturing yield. Such maximization must be performed during the design to achieve an acceptable level of initial manufacturing yield and during fabrication to achieve the maximum rate of yield improvement in the entire product development cycle. The manufacturing-oriented component of the CAD of VLSI circuits is discussed. The concept of design for manufacturability is explained, and a number of issues and design problems relevant to achieving a high level of IC manufacturability are examined. An overview of needed and existing CAD tools that can be used to solve previously listed problems is presented     

电子信息工程自动化设计中智能技术的运用

文章对电子信息工程自动化设计中智能技术的运用进行分析研究,希望能够帮助推动电子信息工程的发展。     

The need to reconceptualize CAD: the case of Brazilian engineeringconsultancy firms

Some of the biggest engineering consulting firms in Brazil have been trying to introduce computer-aided design (CAD) systems for more than five years. Results have been poor, due to concepts of automation developed during the period of industrial mechanization. CAD is basically perceived as a tool for increasing manpower productivity. Because of this perception, valuable uses of the information systems technology have not been recognized, wrong technological decisions have been made, and significant resistance has appeared during the implementation process. The author addresses such issues on the basis of research done among these firms. A new concept of engineering automation, engimation, is developed to provide new pathways to overcome these difficulties     

浅谈自动化技术在电子信息工程设计中的应用

伴随着我国全面进入到信息化时代当中,使得自动化技术越发的成熟,并已经十分广泛的应用到了各个领域当中.因此,为了推动社会的现代化进程,就需要各个行业的工作人员,提升自动化技术的掌握程度,并在电子信息工程设计过程中,实现更加深入的研究.本文就基于当下自动化技术,在电子信息工程设计中的应用,进行详细的阐述与分析,以此为相关领...     

Software tools speed circuit board design

The growing complexity of printed-circuit boards (PCBs) and the concomitant need for computer-aided design (CAD) systems are examined. The features required of CAD systems and how they are used are described. The need for a standard translation mechanism to let the products of one hardware or software supplier substitute directly for those of another is noted. Future trends are identified     

The economics of scan-path design for testability

In this article, scan design for testability (DFT) methods are categorized based on the percentage of storage elements made scannable. The non-scan element state retention problem that occurs in partial scan design methods, in which not all of the storage elements are implemented as scan elements, is discussed. Solutions to this problem are described and the overheads associated with them are discussed. An economic model that allows the costs of a range of scan methods that differ in the percentage of storage elements made scannable to be compared with each other is presented. It is shown that, for systems produced in low volumes, the adoption of full scan DFT can be more cost-effective than partial scan DFT when life-cycle costs are considered if it results in significant reductions in the time taken to get the product to market.     

Custom design of a VLSI PCM-FDM transmultiplexer from system specifications to circuit layout using a computer-aided design system

The computer-aided design of a VLSI PCM-FDM transmultiplexer is presented. The entire design process, from system specifications to integrated circuit layout, is carried out with the aid of specialized computer programs for the analysis, synthesis, and optimization at each design level: the filter network, the architecture, and the circuit layout. These CAD tools support a top-down custom design methodology based on bit-serial architectures and standard cells. A customized architecture is constructed which is integrated using a 5-/spl mu/m CMOS cell library. The results are compared with a fully manual design and demonstrate the power of architecture based computer-aided design methodologies for VLSI filtering. By combining both synthesis and optimization aids at each design level it is possible to achieve a high degree of automation while retaining an efficient use of silicon area, high throughput, and moderate power consumption.     

Computer-aided design, work organization, and the integratedfactory

A common job design model of the integrated factory is outlined, and the extent to which international experiences in computer-aided design (CAD) use conform to the model is assessed. With particular focus on experiences in Australia, it is argued that the variety of types and uses of CAD undermine any simple unlinear theory of necessary or appropriate work organization for CAD. It is concluded, however, that work on the design of so-called human-centered manufacturing systems provides an important opportunity for reassessing the most desirable direction for the future of CAD development and use     

Comparative analysis of design concepts of mechatronics systems with a CAD tool for system architecting

In mechatronics systems design, designers need to deal with complexity derived from the integration of subsystems with various engineering disciplines. In particular, while developing product architecture for the next generation systematically, the present generation systems in the market should be reviewed in terms of their functional overview as well as module structure. This paper proposes a method for developing product architecture by a comparative analysis of the functional overview as well as physical decomposition of existing mechatronics systems. The method employs function–behaviour–state modelling and a computer-aided design (CAD) system for system architecting (SA-CAD) as a modelling scheme and modelling environment, respectively. The paper describes the application of the proposed method in the development of product architecture of autonomous vacuum cleaning robots.     

Embedded system design

In the past decade the main engine of electronic design automation has been the widespread application of ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits). Present technology supports complete systems on a chip, most often used as so-called embedded systems in an increasing number of applications. Embedded systems pose new design challenges which we believe will be the driving forces of design automation in the years to come. These include the design of electronic systems hardware, embedded software and hardware / software codesign. This paper explores the novel technical challenges in embedded system design and presents experiences and results of the work in this area using the CASTLE system. CASTLE supports the design of complex embedded systems and the design of the required tools. It provides a central design representation, Verilog, VHDL and C/C++ frontends, Hardware generation in VHDL and BLIF, a retargetable compiler backend and several analysis and visualization tools. Two design examples, video compression and a diesel injection control, illustrate the presented concepts.     

Market trends in the electronics industry

The statistical survey of the electronics industry in the United States, published annually by the Electronic Industries Association, for several years has shown a trend of importance to all IEEE members whose employment and job assignments depend on the markets for electronic systems, equipment, and components. That trend is a decrease in the year-to-year growth of factory sales in two major components of the industry: products sold to the government and to the consuming public. The other major component, sales of industrial products, has shared this trend of arrested growth, but there is an encouraging turnaround that is evident in the projected figures for 1969. Although product sales are by no means the only significant economic factor in these industries, this indicator has a fundamental influence on future product design and development. The statistics reviewed in this article are taken by permission from the recently published ``EIA Yearbook ? 1969.' This 94-page document1 contains detailed data on sales of individual product lines, funding, employment, and related industry statistics. It is recommended highly to IEEE members, in the U.S. and elsewhere, who have an interest in the economic underpinning of our profession.