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13th design automation conference
13th design automation conference June 28-30, 19 76, San Francisco, California, USA. Sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society and Special Interest Group on Design Automation Thirteen was a lucky number for the organizers as the event drew the largest audience yet - 375 delegates providing the most ambitious conference programme in the series. The programme has hitherto been heavily biased towards the application of computer-aided design in electronic engineering, particularly integrated circuit layout, placement and routing. This year saw a widening in coverage to include techniques of design automation and software reliability, reflecting the more widespread use of the computer as a design tool. In his address, the programme chairman Don Humcke, of Bell Labs, said that design automation (DA) had come of age. In earlier conferences most of the presentations covered concepts and solutions based on the the capabilities of techniques such as simulation and placement. The increased production use of CAD was shown, he said, by the importance placed on the development of techniques. The 69 papers given were organized into parallel sessions. In addition, three well-attended tutorials were held covering interconnection, program verification and interactive graphics and databases. The large attendance at these lectures showed that even those in the know looked for reinforcement of their experiences and beliefs. There were several contributions on interconnection, placement and routing, and integrated circuit layout, given by speakers from both industry and universities. These papers covered new and improved algorithms for routing and layout. DA in this area is still under intense development as cheaper and more powerful refresh graphics appear on the market. Bell Laboratories provided several papers in this session. The sole contribution from the UK
volume 9 number I january 1977
was given by a speaker from GEC Telecommunications, Coventry. This paper provided a case study of an operational CAD system for printed circuit board design, based on a minicomputer and featuring fully automatic placement and routing. More than 300 boards have been designed using this system. Simulators have been used extensively in industry to aid in the development of digital circuits. The uses include the verification of digital circuit design and generation of manufacturing and diagnostic tests and fault location dictionaries. New and extended technologies place more demands on the simulators and the session on digital logic simulation covered the Bell Laboratories LAMP system for functional simulation; a proposal for a 3-valued model for temporal simulation of logic systems from the Universite des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, France; F/LOGIC, an interactive fault and logic simulator, from Bell-Northern Laboratories; and algorithms for event timing. The sessions on interconnection, placement and routing and IC layout formed the backbone of the conference. DA in this area is still under intense development as new, more powerful and cheaper refresh graphics appears on the market. The need for dialogue and designer intervention is well-recognized and the whole DA process of PCB design, requires designer intervention, control and decision. New and improved routing algorithms with higher rates of completion and computationally fast were described. Software engineering and reliability, fault tolerant DA and design rule verification formed important sessions with an emphasis on reliability and checking. There is mounting pressure for increased software reliability through better program design techniques. Automated testing and checking becomes essential as more complex LSI chips and microprocessors are developed. The central and most timeconsuming part of the design process is the production of the documentati-
ion. The session on computer-aided documentation contained three papers on handling design information by computer. Of note is a computer aided drafting system from Designs Aids Inc, for schematics, logic and other diagrams, input from a designer's sketch via a digitizer. Most disappointing and poorly attended were the sessions on architectural design (CAAD) and structural and mechanical DA. Unlike the UK, in the US many firms have stopped funding CAAD projects partly because of a lack of progress in developing useful computer aids and partly because there is no shortage of architects and thus any suggestion of automation is likely to meet with stiff opposition. However, the strenuous efforts being made by Charles Eastman, at Carnegie-Mellon University might well restore confidence and re-motivate firms. The diverse, disconnected papers given in the mechanical DA session indicate the use of one-off programs written for particular applications not tied to a design linked to manufacture system. Structural analysis programs now tend to use interactive graphics in mesh generation and analysis. Professor Walter Reed of the University of Texas described the use of curved isoparametric shape functions in 3D mesh generation run on a DEC 11/40 satellite graphics system timeshared to a CDC 6600 host computer. Because of the vast amounts of data necessary to set up the data and geometry of a structure before the analysis can proceed, a preprocessor is often used to reduce the amount of human effort. Such a preprocessor is in regular use in analysing nuclear power plant structures by Gibbs & Hill Inc, New York. A highly interactive numerical geometry system has been developed by Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, San Diego. The geometric information can be used by all phases of design, manufacturing and production. The system is similar to that in use at McDonnell Douglas. The system provides automatic interfaces to systems such as APT and NASTRAN. It was a shame that there were not more contributions in this area from the large aircraft and auto-
71
motive industries on their current work in integrating their CAD-CAM systems. It is also a pity that much CAD software is trapped in the ivory towers of academia. Many good sessions could be arranged on the current work aimed at producing an integrated design system using a centralized database accessed for design analysis programs, evaluation and design linked to manufacture. J. P. Mayfield, from Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, outlined his company's CAD-CAM system with reference to
numerical master geometry applied to engineering design. The mature graphics systems session provided a crossroads for the different application areas. For example, Bell Laboratories has large numbers of refresh graphics workstations each supported by a local minicomputer and timeshared to a host. There was little mention of the effects of automation on the draftsmen and designers. Frequently, justification of the cost of automation, including design automation,
can only be made by the establishment of two or three shift working. There must be more open discussion on this subject as it heralds a new era for the machine as master. In summary, a useful conlerence on the status of DA in electronics it] particular and techniques in general. It is hoped that future design automarion conferences will cover other application areas more extensively and give more attention to the experience gained with mature DA systems.
The latest advancement from the leading supplier of low-cost
with the Built-in Microwocessor for • sel|-calibl~tion, permitting high accuracy/high linearity • re-locatable origin • s t a n d - a l o n e o p e r a t i o n in many applications, for calculations such as
volumes, areas, linear displacements, perimeters - and any others for which our programmers stand ready to develop the software. M ~ l l l l ~ : our usual Point, Stream and Remote - and operable Incrementally. C l ~ i l ~ ] : ~
F a d : o r uniquely favorable, as with the 4000
other Summagraphics units now at work in business, cartography, engineering, geophysics, medicine, publishing, science.., and MORE: For details, and list of users, write or phone 4mim|mmimiiaaam,... ~) immmlp q aaliO w@.
,~m
mmm~m~gwm
wssmmwuRiw
72
(i~
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~,,~= • ......
35 BrentwoodAve/Box781 Fairfield,Connecticut06430 203-384-1344
computer-aided design
volume 9 number I january 1977
was given by a speaker from GEC Telecommunications, Coventry. This paper provided a case study of an operational CAD system for printed circuit board design, based on a minicomputer and featuring fully automatic placement and routing. More than 300 boards have been designed using this system. Simulators have been used extensively in industry to aid in the development of digital circuits. The uses include the verification of digital circuit design and generation of manufacturing and diagnostic tests and fault location dictionaries. New and extended technologies place more demands on the simulators and the session on digital logic simulation covered the Bell Laboratories LAMP system for functional simulation; a proposal for a 3-valued model for temporal simulation of logic systems from the Universite des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, France; F/LOGIC, an interactive fault and logic simulator, from Bell-Northern Laboratories; and algorithms for event timing. The sessions on interconnection, placement and routing and IC layout formed the backbone of the conference. DA in this area is still under intense development as new, more powerful and cheaper refresh graphics appears on the market. The need for dialogue and designer intervention is well-recognized and the whole DA process of PCB design, requires designer intervention, control and decision. New and improved routing algorithms with higher rates of completion and computationally fast were described. Software engineering and reliability, fault tolerant DA and design rule verification formed important sessions with an emphasis on reliability and checking. There is mounting pressure for increased software reliability through better program design techniques. Automated testing and checking becomes essential as more complex LSI chips and microprocessors are developed. The central and most timeconsuming part of the design process is the production of the documentati-
ion. The session on computer-aided documentation contained three papers on handling design information by computer. Of note is a computer aided drafting system from Designs Aids Inc, for schematics, logic and other diagrams, input from a designer's sketch via a digitizer. Most disappointing and poorly attended were the sessions on architectural design (CAAD) and structural and mechanical DA. Unlike the UK, in the US many firms have stopped funding CAAD projects partly because of a lack of progress in developing useful computer aids and partly because there is no shortage of architects and thus any suggestion of automation is likely to meet with stiff opposition. However, the strenuous efforts being made by Charles Eastman, at Carnegie-Mellon University might well restore confidence and re-motivate firms. The diverse, disconnected papers given in the mechanical DA session indicate the use of one-off programs written for particular applications not tied to a design linked to manufacture system. Structural analysis programs now tend to use interactive graphics in mesh generation and analysis. Professor Walter Reed of the University of Texas described the use of curved isoparametric shape functions in 3D mesh generation run on a DEC 11/40 satellite graphics system timeshared to a CDC 6600 host computer. Because of the vast amounts of data necessary to set up the data and geometry of a structure before the analysis can proceed, a preprocessor is often used to reduce the amount of human effort. Such a preprocessor is in regular use in analysing nuclear power plant structures by Gibbs & Hill Inc, New York. A highly interactive numerical geometry system has been developed by Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, San Diego. The geometric information can be used by all phases of design, manufacturing and production. The system is similar to that in use at McDonnell Douglas. The system provides automatic interfaces to systems such as APT and NASTRAN. It was a shame that there were not more contributions in this area from the large aircraft and auto-
71
motive industries on their current work in integrating their CAD-CAM systems. It is also a pity that much CAD software is trapped in the ivory towers of academia. Many good sessions could be arranged on the current work aimed at producing an integrated design system using a centralized database accessed for design analysis programs, evaluation and design linked to manufacture. J. P. Mayfield, from Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, outlined his company's CAD-CAM system with reference to
numerical master geometry applied to engineering design. The mature graphics systems session provided a crossroads for the different application areas. For example, Bell Laboratories has large numbers of refresh graphics workstations each supported by a local minicomputer and timeshared to a host. There was little mention of the effects of automation on the draftsmen and designers. Frequently, justification of the cost of automation, including design automation,
can only be made by the establishment of two or three shift working. There must be more open discussion on this subject as it heralds a new era for the machine as master. In summary, a useful conlerence on the status of DA in electronics it] particular and techniques in general. It is hoped that future design automarion conferences will cover other application areas more extensively and give more attention to the experience gained with mature DA systems.
The latest advancement from the leading supplier of low-cost
with the Built-in Microwocessor for • sel|-calibl~tion, permitting high accuracy/high linearity • re-locatable origin • s t a n d - a l o n e o p e r a t i o n in many applications, for calculations such as
volumes, areas, linear displacements, perimeters - and any others for which our programmers stand ready to develop the software. M ~ l l l l ~ : our usual Point, Stream and Remote - and operable Incrementally. C l ~ i l ~ ] : ~
F a d : o r uniquely favorable, as with the 4000
other Summagraphics units now at work in business, cartography, engineering, geophysics, medicine, publishing, science.., and MORE: For details, and list of users, write or phone 4mim|mmimiiaaam,... ~) immmlp q aaliO w@.
,~m
mmm~m~gwm
wssmmwuRiw
72
(i~
+gm
~,,~= • ......
35 BrentwoodAve/Box781 Fairfield,Connecticut06430 203-384-1344
computer-aided design