SYMCELL-a symbolic standard cell system

A SYMCELL system is used to create research VLSI prototypes because it permits rapid realization of reasonably high-performance chips. The SYMCELL process flow consists of library creation; schematic capture and logic simulation; netlist translation; layout planning (cell placement and global routing); layout implementation (cell gridding and fine routing); layout verification and simulation; and chip assembly. SYMCELL is a standard cell system that enables cells to be created, placed, and globally routed symbolically. After this symbolic realization, cell rows are compacted and pitch-matched and channels are routed for a specific set of layout rules. The symbolic cell libraries can be maintained independently of the process layout rules, and new cells can be created with the ease of symbolic layout. The system is especially useful in research because of the ease with which the cell library can be mapped to new sets of layout rules