Automated Conversion of Design Data for Building the IBM 3081

The Manufacturing Release Processing System for handling the dual design methodology employed by IBM in the design of the 3081 is described in this paper. This methodology consists of (Part 1) the design of basic building blocks, such as standard circuits and structured gate arrays, on which these standard circuits can be placed and interconnected during (Part 2), when numerous unique devices are designed to perform the various logical functions within the processor. This dual design methodology created some difficult challenges to IBM's CAD/CAM system designers. This paper focuses on the automated release process and how it meets the specific challenges of processing large volumes of design data in the minimum time demanded by fast, controlled implementation of engineering changes.