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Show 2 functionality) has brought the integrated circuit design world to a point where integrated circuit designers can no longer cope with the complexity demanded by functional requirements and supplied by technological advances. The computer holds the key to solving the complexity problems that now face the integrated circuit industry. It has been long recognized that the computer is ideally suited to handling repeated operations CD sets of associated data. Early computers calculated orbit trajectories for spacecraft. Programs were written for handling complex payroll and accounting procedures. Word processors have effecti vely eliminated the complexity problems inherent in editing and formatting text. The computer has provided solutions for compleXity related problems in many industries. The integrated circuit industry has not ignored the use of the computer in solving its complexity problems. 1.1 The Integrated Circuit DeSign Process The integrated circuit design process is, in and of itself, a complex one. Daniel and Gwyn [18] describe this process with a series of nOW-Charts. Each of the substages illustrated in these flow-charts is also a complex process. This process consists of many stages from systems deSign, development and partitioning down to pattern generation for fabrication. All stages are also divisible into a complex interconnection of development, parti ti on Lng , eva+uation and design phases. The computer has been used effectively in alleviating much of the comp.l exf t y problem in many areas of |
