On the Area of Hypercube Layouts

This paper precisely analyzes the wire density and required area in standard layout styles for the hypercube. The most natural, regular layout of a hypercube of N^2 nodes in the plane, in a N x N grid arrangement, uses floor(2N/3)+1 horizontal wiring tracks for each row of nodes. (The number of tracks per row can be reduced by 1 with a less regular design.) This paper also gives a simple formula for the wire density at any cut position and a full characterization of all places where the wire density is maximized (which does not occur at the bisection).Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, LaTe

SLAM : an automated structure to layout synthesis system

SLAM is a structure to layout synthesis system. It incorporates parameterisable bit-sliced and glue-logic generators to produce high density layout. In this paper, we describe a sliced layout architecture and SLAM system. In addition, we present partitioning algorithms for generating the floorplan for such an architecture. The algorithms partition the netlist into component sets best suited for different layout styles such as bit-sliced or strip-oriented logic. Each group is partitioned further into clusters to achieve better area utilization. Several experiments demonstrate that highly dense layouts can be achieved by using these algorithms with the sliced layout architecture

Crossing-aware channel routing for photonic waveguides

pre-printAbstract-Silicon photonics technology is progressing at a rapid pace. Despite greatly expanded manufacturing capability, physical design of integrated optical circuits currently lacks the level of automation found in VLSI design. A key component of integrated optic design is waveguide routing; however, unlike VLSI, where signal nets are routed with metal layers and vias, photonic waveguides are fabricated in planar substrates. For many applications, our studies show that the waveguide routing problem can be formulated as planar channel routing. Signal losses become a major factor due to the insertion losses of planar waveguide crossings. Channel routing must therefore take into account these losses. This paper investigates methods for adapting traditional VLSI channel routing techniques for integrated optics - specifically, a technique based on left-edge-style track assignment. We show how incorporating waveguide crossing constraints into the underlying constraint model affects the routing solution, and describe the necessary modifications and extensions to the routing technique to properly exploit optical technology. We implement the channel router, describe the experimental results, and compare the cost of solutions with respect to waveguide crossings, corresponding to signal loss, and channel height

A methodology for physical design automation for integrated optics

pre-printAdvancements in silicon photonics technology are enabling large scale integration of electro-optical circuits and systems. To fully exploit this potential, automated techniques for design space exploration and physical synthesis for integrated optics must be developed. This paper investigates how conventional VLSI physical design automation techniques can be adapted for integrated optics applications.We present an overall methodology for cell-placement, global routing, and detail routing for physical synthesis of optical circuits. In addition, we highlight optics-specific constraint models, design rules and optimization criteria that will have to be accounted for in physical design automation

The 30/20 GHz mixed user architecture development study

A mixed-user system is described which provides cost-effective communications services to a wide range of user terminal classes, ranging from one or two voice channel support in a direct-to-user mode, to multiple 500 mbps trunking channel support. Advanced satellite capabilities are utilized to minimize the cost of small terminals. In a system with thousands of small terminals, this approach results in minimum system cost

Channel routing for integrated optics

pre-printIncreasing scope and applications of integrated optics necessitates the development of automated techniques for physical design of optical systems. This paper presents an automated, planar channel routing technique for integrated optical waveguides. Integrated optics is a planar technology and lacks the inherent signal restoration capabilities of static-CMOS. Therefore, signal loss minimization-as a function of waveguide crossings and bends-is the primary objective of this technique. This is in contrast to track and wire-length minimization of traditional VLSI routing. Our optical channel router guarantees minimal waveguide crossings by drawing upon sorting-based techniques for waveguide routing. To further improve our solutions in terms of signal loss, we extend the router to reduce the number of bends produced during routing. Finally, we implement the optical channel routing technique and describe the experimental results, comparing the costs of routing solutions with respect to waveguide crossings, bends, and channel height