INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN

TECHNOLOGY COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN (TCAD) TOOLS ARE NOW CRITICAL IN THE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS. AS INDUSTRIAL INTEREST HAS GROWN, THE NUMBER OF SOURCES OF THESE TOOLSHAS INCREASED. EACH TOOL TYPICALLY USES A UNIQUE DATA REPRESENTATION, MAKING INTEGRATION OF SEVERAL TOOLS DIFFICULT. IN ADDITION, A NATURAL INTERACTION BETWEEN TCAD AND ELECTRONIC DESIGN AUTOMATION (EDA) TOOLS HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED, AND DATA SHARING IS NEEDED. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO INVESTIGATE AND RECOMMEND THE BEST WAY TO ADDRESS THE NEED TO TCAD INTEGRATION THROUGH A UNIFYING FRAMEWORK. THERE IS AN ONGOING INDUSTRY-WIDE EFFORT IN THIS AREA, THE TCAD FRAMEWORK INITIATIVE, AND TMA IS AN ACTIVE PARTICIPATE IN THIS ENTERPRISE. IN ADDITION, THE USE OF FRAMEWORKS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED FOR INTEGRATING MULTISOURCE EDA TOOLS. THESE SYSTEMS AND OTHERS WILL BE EVALUATED FOR THEIR APPLICABILITY TO TCAD. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT WILL HAVE TWO DISTINCT STAGES: 1)THE FEASIBILITY AND PRACTICIALITY OF A FRAMEWORK FOR TCAD TOOL INTEGRATION WILL BE INVESTIGATED; AND 2) A FUNCTIONAL DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DELIVERED. THE RESULTS OF THIS PHASE IEFFORT WILL PROVIDE A PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED TCAD SYSTEM DURING PHASE II. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT. THE REALIZATION OF THE INTEGRATED TCAD SYSTEM PROPOSED UNDER THIS PROJECT WILL BENEFIT TCAD TOOLUSERS AND DEVELOPERS ALIKE. IT WILL BENEFIT USERS BY MAKING INDIVIDUAL TOOLS EASIER TO USE AND PROVIDE A MEANS TO EFFECTIVELY USE A SET OFTCAD TOOLS AS PART OF A TECHNOLOGY DESIGN METHODOLOGY. IN ADDITION, USERS