Chip assembly tools

Abstract

In large-scale integrated circuit design, chip assembly is more difficult, more time consuming. and more error prone than the design of the low-level cells. Assembly errors tend to persist until late in the design cycle requiring extensive rework. Unfortunately, the tools traditionally provided for custom integrated circuit design address the problems of cell design well, but do not properly address the problems of chip assembly. A great deal of emphasis at Caltech has been placed on tools that do address chip assembly. This paper reports on some of these tools.