CONTACT(S)
Sankar Basu, Program Director

Debbie C. Jones, Division Secretary & Program Assistant

SCOPE
VLSI design methodologies are exceptionally
challenged by the rapid advances in deep submicron, mechanical
(MEMS), optical, nano, and quantum computing media. This program
supports basic research underlying the science and methodologies
for designing integrated systems comprised of micro systems in
traditional silicon VLSI technology, in MEMS technologies, and in
computing media of the future. Since new computing technologies are
not expected to replace silicon in the foreseeable future, research
must continue on silicon VLSI design as well as design in new
technologies. The program primarily addresses three areas:
exploration of fundamental questions of how to design in future
computing media; meeting challenges of design in VLSI silicon as
geometries shrink; and investigating design methods for
technologies such as optical, MEMS and mixed signal.
Design in Future Computing Media: As
with VLSI, giant strides may occur when the design process is
separated from the development of the underlying medium. Enhancing
the dialogue between the silicon design community and non-silicon
technologists may stimulate crossover activities between EDA design
researchers and micro/nano/molecular technology researchers.
Examples of research activities and questions include, but are not
limited to the following:
-
What does one need to surround a new
technology to allow it to scale into a designable
system?
-
How can the key insights of the silicon
revolution - models of computation, abstraction and design
hierarchies, smooth design to fabrication flow, discovery of
fundamental primitives, synthesis methodologies, etc - be
translated into new technologies?
-
How could one develop abstractions of
interactions at nano, molecular, quantum levels, and incorporate
them with models of computation in the new
technologies?
-
Identifying building blocks in MEMS, nano
and molecular technologies so that huge networks of nano devices
could be assembled into randomized architectures.
-
Understanding the abstractions and
formulating them into simple engineering models.
-
Can we preserve the Architecture =>
Layout => Timing model from silicon VLSI?
-
The complexity of design algorithms in new
technologies needs to be understood.
-
Workshops to explore general and specific
questions of design in new technologies.
-
EVENTUALLY there will be a need for design
strategies, finding methods for defect recovery, repair, fault
tolerance, and for porting internal computations to the
outside.
Traditional VLSI Electronic Design:
Here the emphasis is on the basic science for design for next
generation VLSI chips. Design media are deep submicron
technologies. Research covers all phases of the design cycle for
integrated circuits and systems, from conception through testing.
The three basic segments here are system design, physical design
and testing. General research topics include, but are not limited
to:
- Algorithms for analysis, synthesis, and
simulation,
- System-on-a-chip,
- Validation and verification
methodology,
- Manufacturing test.
Design for Mixed Technologies: These
are optical, mechanical (MEMS) and mixed signal (analog-electrical)
within a micro-system. Here the technology has matured to the point
that many different microsensor and microactuator devices can be
fabricated in the same process, and a design science needs to be
developed. General research topics include those above, with
emphasis on computational models, and foundational studies
pertaining to analysis, behavior modeling, validation, and
testing.
RELATED INFO

Abstracts of Awards
|