Object-oriented modelling in digital circuit CAD systems

Abstract Many CAD systems involve maintenance of different forms of data for different facets of the design process. This leads to confusion and inconvenience for the designer, and recent research has been directed towards easing this problem by integrating CAD systems around a single central database. However, this approach requires that the different data representations also be integrated, into a single central model that is therefore considerably more complex. This paper formulates such a model for digital circuit design information, representing design data as a complex dynamic structure of entities existing in a four-dimensional space. The model is explained and illustrated with examples from a practical objected-oriented implementation, demonstrating the merits of the object-oriented paradigm for circuit design data modelling.