Design aids for VLSI: The Berkeley perspective

Computer aids for integrated circuit (IC) design have been an integral part of the Berkeley IC program since its inception in the early 1960's. While our initial work concentrated on the development of simulation programs, such as SPICE2 and SPLICE, we are currently developing an integrated design system for VLSI circuits. The system is based on 1) the use of dedicated design stations, connected among themselves and to peripheral equipment via a high-speed computer network, and 2) a portable operating system framework for the integration of a set of design programs. This paper describes our ongoing research in the area of layout design and verification, simulation, synthesis, and optimization for VLSI design.