Modern VLSI Design: IP-Based Design, Fourth Edition

Preface

This book was written in the belief that VLSI design is system design. Designing fast inverters is fun, but designing a high-performance, cost-effective integrated circuit demands knowledge of all aspects of digital design, from application algorithms to fabrication and packaging. Carver Mead and Lynn Conway dubbed this approach the tall-thin designer approach. Today’s hot designer is a little fatter than his or her 1979 ancestor, since we now know a lot more about VLSI design than we did when Mead and Conway first spoke. But the same principle applies: you must be well-versed in both high-level and low-level design skills to make the most of your design opportunities.

Since VLSI has moved from an exotic, expensive curiosity ...