An Object-Oriented Datamodel for the VLSI Design System PLAYOUT

A complete datamodel for an integrated VLSI design system is developed in a stepwise manner. This datamodel introduces a unified view of all design domains and hierarchy levels that result in a considerable simplification of the communication among the design tools. We defined five basic objects: cell, interface, contents, instance and configuration for high level description of all design data. The model also covers views, types, alternatives, versions and the design history. In particular our handling of the configuration demonstrates reasonable response times, due to the strict avoidance of redundant information and the storage of complex objects. This datamodel can be directly used for the implementation of an efficient object-oriented design database.