Active Documentation: a New Interface for VLSI Design

We present a new system for documentation in VLSI design environments. The system integrates hypermedia and some services of a CAD applications framework to offer a radically new user interface to designers. This combination of technologies enables the use of the documentation system as a front-end to the design tools, resulting in a single interface metaphor for manipulating design data, processes and the design environment. Through the use of design data and history management services, the design process becomes like writing a notebook, containing all the information associated with a design as it is being conceived. Hypermedia provides new capabilities for integrating media into design documentation and for non-linear views of documents. Invoking the design tools from within the documentation system adds the capability of direct manipulation of the design objects and their re-use as part of the documentation. This paper describes the conceptual model for a design system front-end embodying these ideas and a prototype implementation.