A Video Driver System Designed Using a Top-Down,
Constraint-Driven Methodology
Iasson Vassiliou, Henry Chang, Alper Demir, Edoardo Charbon,
Paolo Miliozzi and Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli
Abstract:
To accelerate the design cycle for analog and mixed-signal systems,
we have proposed a top-down, constraint-driven design
methodology. The key idea of the proposed methodology
is hierarchically propagating constraints from performance
specifications to layout. Consequently, it is essential to provide the
necessary tools and techniques enabling the efficient constraint
propagation.
To illustrate the applicability
of the proposed methodology to the design of larger systems, we
present in this paper the complete design flow for a video driver system.
Critical advantages of the methodology
illustrated with this design example include avoiding costly low level
re-designs and getting working silicon parts from the first run.
Following our approach, a jitter constraint is
imposed at the system level and then is propagated hierarchically
to the circuit blocks and layout, using behavioral modeling
and simulation. Experimental results are presented from working
fabricated parts.