We refer to the term "design flow" as a sequenced set of operations performed when realizing a VLSI circuit. In the design flow, we rely on a strict definition of all the objects and design functions found in the process of designing a VLSI chip. The design flow is based on the Mead-Conway model and is characterized by its top-down aspect. Below we introduce the major steps of the basic design methodology. It emphasizes the top-down aspect of the design flow, and points out that our methodology is breaked up into 5 distinct parts, the latter being not available yet within Alliance:
The design flow also includes miscellaneous tools like layout editor for the design of the cell libraries, and a PostScript plotter for documentation.