A knowledge-based design consultant: model and architecture

Future CAD frameworks for VLSI chip design will provide a component to support the designer in finding applicable design strategies and tools and in deciding which of them are best suited for the specific design task. This paper describes the underlying concepts of a prototype of such a design consulting system. It introduces a model of the design process, which allows one to define where in the design process design consulting can take place and which kind of information should be taken into account to support the designer in making an appropriate decision. The design consulting problem is tackled from an AI point of view: the decision problem is put into a general problem taxonomy and the resulting problem subtypes and solving methods are discussed. Finally, the paper concludes with the description of the architecture of the design consulting system which is based on two blackboards: a control blackboard and a design data blackboard