Standard-cell-based design methodology for high-performance support chips
Bernhard Kick, U. Baur, Juergen Koehl, Thomas E Ludwig, T. Pflueger · IBM Journal of Research and Development · 1997
We describe the methodology used for the design of a set of CMOS support chips used in the IBM S/390® Parallel Enterprise Server Generations 3 and 4. The logic design is based on functional units, and the majority of the logic is implemented by standard cell elements placed and routed flat, using timing-driven techniques. Custom library elements are used wherever needed for performance reasons. Using this approach, a density has been achieved that is comparable to those of contemporary custom designs, combined with very attractive turnaround times.