TOOLS DEVELOPED IN CAD AND SPECIFICALLY UNDER MICROELECTRONICS REGULATION 3744/81 AND THE ESPRIT PROJECTS
- EXPERIENCE IN ALGORITHMS USED IN VLSI DESIGN
- TECHNOLOGIES AND DEMONSTRATOR CHIPS IN THE ORDER OF 10 MILLION TRANSISTORS
1.3.1 . CAD INTEGRATION PROJECT ( TYPE A )
THE REQUIREMENT IS FOR A WIDE AND REPRESENTATIVE GROUP OF DESIGN AUTOMATION ( DA ) TOOL DEVELOPERS TO MEET AND JOINTLY RECOMMEND THE MECHANISMS AND FRAMEWORK FOR BETTER INTEGRATION AND WIDER ACCESSIBILITY OF EUROPEAN CAD TOOLS .
THE PROJECT WILL PRODUCE REGULAR STUDY REPORTS AND WILL RELATE ITS FINDINGS TO SOME SPECIFIC PROGRAMMING WORK TO SUPPORT INTEGRATION AND LINKING OF EXISTING AND EURO SUPPORTED TOOLS , AND TO DEFINE A FRAMEWORK OF STANDARDS FOR FUTURE WORK .
THE STUDIES MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WORLDWIDE DEVELOPMENT ( EG ELECTRONIC DESIGN INTERCHANGE FORMAT - EDIF ) IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DA SYSTEM ARCHITECTURES .
PHASE 1
YEAR 1 :
PROBLEMS OF BRIDGING EXISTING EURO TOOLS , TECHNIQUES FOR INTEGRATION , IMPACT OF NETWORKS AND DISTRIBUTED DATA .
YEAR 2 :
RECOMMEND DATA AND PORTABILITY STANDARDS , IMPACT OF SPECIAL DA H/W ( HARDWARE ) GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPERS OF DA TOOLS .
MILESTONES :
A ) INTEGRATION OF TOOLS AND SYSTEMS CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT INTO A FIRST GENERATION SYSTEM .
B ) DEFINITION OF FRAMEWORK OF STANDARDS FOR FUTURE WORK .
* A MAJOR REVIEW OF ACHIEVEMENTS AND A REASSESSMENT OF THE BALANCE OF THE WORK TO BE MADE AT THIS TIME .
PHASE 2
YEAR 3 AND YEAR 4 :
EXTENSIONS TO INCORPORATE IMPACT OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN DA HARDWARE , ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DATABASE TECHNOLOGY .
YEAR 5 :
COMPLETE THE INTEGRATION OF SECOND GENERATION SYSTEM AND REVIEW EXISTING STANDARDS .
MILESTONES :
A ) INTEGRATION OF ADVANCED TOOLS INTO SECOND GENERATION SYSTEM .
B ) REVIEW OF EXISTING STANDARDS WITH UPDATES WHERE APPROPRIATE .
1.3.2 . USER INTERFACE PROJECT ( TYPE A )
THE OBJECTIVE IS TO PROMOTE MORE EFFECTIVE USE AND CONSISTENCY OF CAD TOOLS FROM THE USER POINT OF VIEW . THE WORK WILL BE A COMBINATION OF A WIDE RANGING STUDY AND THE PRACTICAL ADAPTATION OF SOME EXISTING PROGRAMMES .
YEAR 1 :
ENHANCE THE USER INTERFACE ASPECTS IN THE ONGOING CAD SYSTEM PROJECTS ALONG THE WHOLE DESIGN PROCESS :
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS :
- USER FRIENDLINESS
- QUICK RESPONSE TIME
- PORTABILITY
- CONSISTENCY
YEAR 2 :
INVESTIGATE THE LINKS ON COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN INTELLIGENT WORK STATIONS AND THE CENTRAL COMPUTING UNITS :
- SPEED OF TRANSMISSION
- PROTOCOL OF TRANSMISSION
- PARTITIONING OF DATA AND PROCESSES BETWEEN WORK STATIONS AND COMPUTERS
YEARS 3 AND 4 :
STUDY OF MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE WITH RESPECT TO CAD - NEW INPUT/OUTPUT TECHNIQUES , FOR INSTANCE VOICE INPUT ( AND SEE ALSO OTHER ESPRIT AREAS ) .
1.3.3 . PROBLEMS OF VERY LARGE SCALE INTEGRATION ( TYPE A )
THE TARGET IS TO DEVELOP NEW ALGORITHMS AND ARCHITECTURES APPROPRIATE FOR VLSI CIRCUITS CONTAINING MILLIONS OF TRANSISTORS . THE FIRST STEP IS TO ESTABLISH A FORMAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE LIMITS