SLIM: a system for ASIC library management

SLIM provides an integrated environment for managing ASIC library development flows and data at various levels of abstraction such as functional, physical, generic, and workstation specific. The salient features of the system include parallel distributed flow execution; multilayered, hierarchical configuration management; dynamic status tracking; and multi-user environment. These, along with the data and project management capabilities, help in improving the library quality and reducing the cycle time. Implementation details are presented in terms of an innovative architecture and a systems engineering approach using DSEE (Domain Software Engineering Environment), a CASE (computer-aided software engineering) tool from Apollo-HP. Two library development flows for which SLIM has been successfully used are also described.<>