The Design of VLSI Design Methods

The Mead-Conway VLSI design and implementation methodologies were deliberately generated to be simple and accessible, and yet have wide coverage and efficiency in application. An overview is given of the methods used to "design the design methodology." We sketch the results and the status of these methods, and of the associated infrastructure of university courses, computer network communities, silicon implementation systems, and silicon foundries in the United States. Building on this context, we present newly evolving knowledge concerning the principled design of design methods. Revisiting the Mead-Conway experiences to illustrate specific concepts, we consider how the properties of particular systems of knowledge, methods, and infrastructure affect the rates and extents of knowledge generation, diffusion, convergence, displacement, and integration.