Technology Tracking for VLSI Layout Design Tools

We describe a comprehensive way to organize information about VLSI technologies. This information is represented both in a syntactical structure and in a database format. The objective of the technology database is to exercise centralized control over all tools that use technology information so that the tools can be made immune to changes in technology to the extent possible. The syntactical representation allows for interchange among different companies, similar to what Electronic Design Interchange Format (EDIF) is designed for. The paper concentrates on technology tracking for layout tools. These tools include layout editing, compaction, routing, design-rule checking, extraction, plotting, and mask generation. Our scheme enables the same set of layout tools to work with different technologies (such as MOS and bipolar). The principle can be used for other VLSI design tools. We have also developed several tools specifically for handling technology databases.