ABSTRACT
Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) has become a technology of large economical importance. Mastering this technology on the one hand means mastering the latest semiconductor processing technology, and on the other hand mastering computer aided design. Whereas the first presents a problem for physics and chemistry, the progress in the second field results from large activities in electri cal engineering and computer science. Although a large body of knowledge about solutions to partial problems exists, there is still a lack of combining all these results into integrated systems that are applicable to design very complex VLSI circuits. Today, this is especially the case; we can see a shift from bottomup to top-down design.
