Introduction

Abstract

Our emphasis in this work is on automatic layout generation for analog integrated circuits. However, to gain a global perspective, we first briefly outline the most important steps involved in the design of mixed-signal integrated circuits. Section 1.1 discusses the design cycle of a mixed-signal ASIC. A design methodology for the analog part of the ASIC is presented in section 1.2 and the physical design steps in this flow are discussed in detail in section 1.3. In section 1.4, we will discuss the different layout styles that can be used for analog layout, and we will indicate the scope of the research. An overview of existing tools for analog full-custom layout is given in 1.5, together with a situation of our own work. Finally, in section 1.6, we give a brief overview of the LAYLA tool set, which is the result of this work, and we draw some conclusions in section 1.7.