Design of basic CMOS cell library

The paper was developed from an undergraduate student project carried out in 1989. The aims were to investigate the principles behind cell library design, and then to design a rudimentary cell library for use in connection with full-custom IC design teaching and projects. The library itself was targeted at the ES2 2μm n-well process, and was built using the RACAL-REDAC `ISIS´ full-custom software suite, but the principles discussed should be of more general interest The paper considers the general options available, the sequence of design decisions that need to be taken, and factors that may influence these decisions. Some unexpected and unresolved difficulties with simulators and simulation are reported, and some general conclusions about designing a cell library are noted