(Technical University of Lisbon) 1983 MS
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Active Documentation for VLSI Design by Mário Jorge Silva B.S. (Technical University of Lisbon) 1983 M.S. (Technical University of Lisbon) 1987 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering — Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the GRADUATE DIVISION of the UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA at BERKELEY Committee in charge: Professor Randy H. Katz, Chair Professor A. Richard Newton Professor Alice M. Agogino Active Documentation for VLSI Design Copyright © 1994 by Mário J. Silva 1 Abstract Active Documentation for VLSI Design by Mário J. Silva Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering — Electrical Engineering and Computer Science University of California at Berkeley Professor Randy H. Katz, Chair The main proposal of this dissertation is the integration of design and documentation in a VLSI design system using hypermedia technologies. We introduce and demonstrate the use of active documents in VLSI design. These are multimedia presentations that incorporate invocations to the tools to display and modify the design data. The combination of design and documentation systems offers a new way of creating integrated environments for designers in general, and introduces a new paradigm for VLSI design. We show that it is possible to develop effective design methodologies that enable creating design and docu- mentation in a single thread without intruding in the design process. Active documentation is also used as a new paradigm for creating a common interface to hetero- geneous tools and data used in system design environments. We add a new integration layer that hides heterogeneity by enabling designers to control the flow of information between independent systems through a document manipulation paradigm. We also show how information-based ser- vices available through electronic commerce could be integrated into the design environment using this paradigm. Active documents become a vehicle for transporting design data and opera- tions between frameworks in independent organizations, enabling the creation of virtual enter- prises for development of electronic systems. We develop a realistic model for creating a system supporting the integration of design and docu- mentation based on a new infrastructure that attempts to re-use existing framework services and design and documentation tools with minimal modification. From the data point of view, it intro- 2 duces a new layer within the design database. This new layer contains descriptions of how the design data is organized and presented. It is a data structure with references to the design data, configuration and history data. It also includes mechanisms to tool invocations to present the data. The new presentation layer is organized as a set of active of documents. Designers manipulate them just like the documents produced by documentation processing systems. Randy H. Katz iii Acknowledgments I thank Professor Randy Katz for his invaluable support during my years at Berkeley. He pro- vided constant academic guidance and inspired most of the ideas presented here. Randy is a great communicator and an excellent conductor of research projects. Through his example, he taught me more than anybody else. I was very fortunate in having the chance to work with him as my research advisor. I look forward to further develop our relationship both as a colleague and a friend. Professors Richard Newton and Alice Agogino were in the dissertation committee and reviewed this thesis. I also wish to thank Richard for helping me come to Berkeley as a graduate student. Prof. Larry Rowe reviewed the dissertation proposal and guided me on the development of a strategy to evaluate the Henry System. Prof. Jan Rabaey coined the term information-centric design and reviewed many of the architectural ideas we developed for the Henry System. Prof. Andy Neureuther gave me the opportunity to conduct Henry’s usability experiment with his class. I also thank the Fall’93 EE141 students that volunteered to participate. Wayne Yeung deserves an added note of thanks for the intensive use of the initial prototype of Henry and for the many suggestions for improvement. Prof. Bob Brayton and Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli taught me how to develop CAD algorithms. Alberto was also my initial graduate studies’ advisor. I thank him for the words of encouragement in the first years. At Berkeley, we learn as much from our professors as from the continuous interaction with other students. I wish to acknowledge in particular my mates during the past years, Elan Amir, Hari Balakrishnan, Ann Chervenak, Tzi-cker Chiueh, Mike Dahlin, Ethan Miller and Srinivasan Seshan. In particular, Tzi-cker participated in the initial brainstorms that lead to Henry and Srini iv reviewed all my writings. Many thanks also to Wendell Baker, Ole Bentz and Arlindo Oliveira for the input on the design of Henry, and Hamid Savoj for the exciting work we did together while developing Boolean Matching algorithms. Theresa Lessard-Smith and Bob Miller performed the administrative work required for this research. Terry was also my advisor for university and American social life related matters. For my graduate education I received support from the following institutions: FLAD, the Ful- bright Program Committee, IST, JNICT and the NSF. Professor Luís Vidigal was my research advisor at the Technical University of Lisbon. He has been my source of inspiration and encouragement since I was his undergraduate student. I thank my parents for their lifetime commitment to provide me with the best possible educa- tion. My wife Paula and my children Joana and Miguel suffered much during these years. I am grateful for their love and patience. v To my wife, Paula. vi Contents Chapter 1 Introduction..................................................................................................................1 1.1 A New Approach to Address Design Complexity................................................4 1.2 Combining Design and Documentation................................................................6 1.2.1 Active Documentation .................................................................................9 1.2.2 Tool Ensembles in VLSI Design................................................................12 1.3 Support of multi-organizational design methodologies......................................13 1.4 Dissertation Overview ........................................................................................14 Chapter 2 Related and Previous Work ......................................................................................18 2.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................18 2.2 Operating Systems Services and Application Frameworks................................22 2.2.1 COSE and CDE..........................................................................................24 2.2.2 CFI .............................................................................................................25 2.2.3 Design Process Management Systems.......................................................26 2.2.3.1 What is a Design Tool?...........................................................................28 2.3 Documentation Processing Systems ...................................................................29 2.3.1 SGML ........................................................................................................30 vii 2.4 Hypertext and Hypermedia Systems...................................................................31 2.4.1 Open Hypermedia Systems........................................................................33 2.4.2 Compound Document Manipulation Architectures...................................35 2.4.3 Notebooks ..................................................................................................36 2.5 Design Rationale Capture Systems.....................................................................38 2.6 Computer Supported Cooperative Work.............................................................40 2.6.1 Active Mail ................................................................................................41 2.7 Summary.............................................................................................................42 Chapter 3 Internet System Software and Applications............................................................43 3.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................43 3.2 MIME — Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions..............................................45 3.3 Enabled Mail.......................................................................................................46 3.3.1 Enabled Mail and Security.........................................................................48 3.4 World Wide Web.................................................................................................50 3.5 Electronic Commerce..........................................................................................51 3.6 Summary.............................................................................................................53 Chapter 4 The Next Generation Design Environment .............................................................55 4.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................55 4.2 Requirements