APPLICATION-SPECIFIC INTEGRATED-CIRCUIT DESIGN ON A PC PLATFORM

Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) are most commonly des igned on high end computer platforms, such as the SUN workstation. Thi s paper describes a cost-effective method of designing ASICs on PCS. W ith the rapidly increasing power of the PC, and the ease of communicat ion through the Internet, today it is possible to run some of popular VLSI CAD packages at a much lower cost. Today, at the University of So uthern Mississippi the software package MAGIC has been used for that p urpose on PC based stations. This paper starts with an overview of ASI C design on PC platforms and its impact on industry and academia. The software and hardware requirements and the techniques needed to acquir e VLSI capabilities on a PC are examined. This is followed by a compar ison of the available VLSI software in the market and its suitability for the class environment.