Design Automation for Complex Microsystems

电子设计自动化（EDA）和计算机辅助设计（CAD）工具是使微电子工业蓬勃发展成为全球数十亿美元产业的关键推动者，加拿大处于这场革命的最前沿。CAD工具使设计人员能够管理包含数百万个晶体管的超大规模设计的复杂性，并显著降低设计成本和上市时间。因此，微电子工业是一个价值数十亿美元的产业，对大多数消费产品都有影响。最近，光刻技术的进步使得器件尺寸更小，达到纳米级。为了解决集成、信号完整性和功率分配问题，封装技术正在以非常快的速度发展，基于纳米技术、微机电系统（MEMS）、光电子技术和生物/化学传感器的新技术和设备正在与微电子技术相结合，以形成具有广泛潜在应用的微系统，从游戏到生物医学应用。虽然这些技术进步代表了经济增长和改善加拿大人生活的重要机会，但它们也导致了设计复杂性的显著增加。该研究计划的目的是开发先进的仿真算法和方法，并利用处理器架构的最新进展，以解决先进微系统设计日益复杂的问题。这种高效的自动化设计工具对于这个行业的持续发展是必要的。

Electronic design automation (EDA) and computer aided design (CAD) tools were the key enabler that allowed the microelectronics industry to flourish into a multi-billion dollar industry world wide, with Canada at the forefront of this revolution. CAD tools have allowed designers to manage the complexity of very large scale designs containing millions of transistors, and to significantly reduce the design cost and time to market. As a result, the microelectronics industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with impact on most consumer products. Recently, advances in lithography have lead to smaller device sizes well into the nanometer range. Packaging technology is advancing at a very fast pace in order to address integration, signal integrity and power distribution issues, and novel technologies and devices based on nanotechnology, micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), opto-electronics technologies and bio/chemical sensors are being integrated with microelectronics in order to form Microsystems with wide ranging potential applications ranging from games to biomedical applications. While these technological advances represent an important opportunity for economic growth, and for improving the lives of Canadians, they also result in a significant increase in the complexity of design. The aim of this research program is to develop advanced simulation algorithms and methodologies, and leverage recent advances in processor architecture in order to address the increasing complexity of advanced Microsystems design. Such efficient automated design tools are necessary for the continued growth of this industry.