A workstation approach to IC process and device design

IC designers are turning more and more to CAD tools to develop complex designs and to automate time-consuming tasks. Although there are a variety of integrated tools for many types of VLSI design, very few integrated systems have been built to address process and device design. Recognizing this need, researchers at MIT set out to define the requirements of a process and device design environment, implement a subset of these functions, and integrate the tools into a user-friendly design environment. As part of their work on creating a user-friendly environment, they developed the MASTIF workstation to provide graphic, window-oriented user interaction to process and device designers.<>