A flow-based user interface for efficient execution of the design cycle

In this paper we present a user interface that supports design engineers in having efficient interaction with their CAD system. We adopt a flow-based paradigm for design history browsing and tool selection. Based on this paradigm the user interface shows design objects in the context of executed-, enabled- and disabled tools and related design objects. We present a flow coloring algorithm which is used by the user interface to automatically select convenient doses of information related to a user-specified design object. The user interface integrates many aspects of user interaction into a single platform that enables design engineers to efficiently execute the design cycle. This includes tool invocation facilities, an intuitive mechanism for interaction among different browsers, and a mechanism for automatic updates of the information that is being displayed as changes occur. The user interface has been implemented as a desktop facility in the Nelsis CAD Framework.

[1]  Peter van den Hamer,et al.  A data flow based architecture for CAD frameworks , 1990, 1990 IEEE International Conference on Computer-Aided Design. Digest of Technical Papers.

[2]  S.W. Director,et al.  The Hercules CAD task management system , 1991, 1991 IEEE International Conference on Computer-Aided Design Digest of Technical Papers.

[3]  Pieter van der Wolf,et al.  Design flow management in the NELSIS CAD framework , 1991, 28th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference.

[4]  Randy H. Katz,et al.  Browsing the chip design database , 1988, 25th ACM/IEEE, Design Automation Conference.Proceedings 1988..

[5]  P. van der Wolf,et al.  A design platform for the NELSIS CAD framework , 1990, 27th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference.

[6]  P. van der Wolf,et al.  Incorporating design flow management in a framework based CAD system , 1992, 1992 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design.

[7]  Alberto Di Janni.  A Monitor for Complex CAD Systems , 1986, DAC 1986.

[8]  Michael Rumsey,et al.  Unifying tool, data and process flow management , 1992, Proceedings EURO-DAC '92: European Design Automation Conference.

[9]  Pieter van der Wolf,et al.  Incorporating design flow management in a framework based CAD system , 1992, ICCAD.