Towards a cooperative multi-agent approach for computer aided VLSI design

Artificial intelligent (AI) research has been focused on understanding cooperative knowledge systems. The questions centre around the complexity of separate knowledge sources in terms of heterarchical and hierarchical organization structure and convergence of the design cycle. We discuss an approach that employs a set of cooperative knowledge sources involved in the design process at various stages of VLSI design, interacting through a common blackboard architecture. A conceptual model based on blackboard architecture is introduced to manage knowledge associated with VLSI design