ASIC design project management supported by multi agent simulation

Abstract

The complexity of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) is continuously increasing. Consequently chip-design becomes more and more challenging. To handle this complexity for a fast ASIC development, the existing design process has to become more efficient. To achieve this, we used an approach based on a multi-agent simulation. A mutli-agent system is an intuitive way to represent a team of designers, creating an ASIC. Furthermore, MAS are capable of coping with the natural dynamics of the design process, reacting to and modelling unforeseen events. The resulting Model is capable of an extensive analysis of the design process. It can make reliable predictions on design project courses and identify weak spots within the design process. It can provide status-anlysis of ongoing projects and suggestions on how to organize, plan and execute a new project efficiently. © 2009 International Federation for Information Processing.