LAMBDA: A Quick, Low Cost Layout Design System for Master-Slice LSIs

This paper describes an automatic/interactive layout design system for designing master-slice LSI chips, which places function blocks and gives wiring patterns on the chip. Since 100% routing is essential for master-slice layout design, it is urgently required to establish a strong CAD system, which significantly reduces the design time. The LAMBDA system has been developed to achieve complete net connectivity in as short a design time as possible, where efficient automatic procedures are implemented as well as highly interactive functions. The system adopts two-level hierarchy algorithms for placement and routing problems. Highly interactive functions are realized by exploiting human intelligence and the computer's high speed processing.