Chip Assemblers: Concepts and Capabilities

A chip assembler is a tool for managing design information. It encourages a structured design methodology, wherein a design is described by a collection of hierarchical design decompositions, one for each of its representations. It assists in the enforcement of consistency constraints up, down, and across the different hierarchies. We argue that a chip assembler, as an integrated design environment, requires an integrated approach for the management of design data. We describe what a chip assembler is, how it is used for design management, and what are its desirable features.