Goalie: A Space Efficient System for VLSI Artwork Analysis

Advances in VLSI have resulted in more and more complex circuitry, fueling the need for programs that analyze IC mask artwork. This article describes Goalie, an artwork analysis system, by explaining the algorithms used to support circuit extraction, Boolean geometric operations, connectivity analysis, capacitance measurement and design checking. Tests on several systems have shown that Goalie runs at least as fast as algorithms currently in use, but it requires less main memory, so large layouts can be handled on small computers, or even on personal workstations.