In today's highly-competitive market, it is imperative not only to deliver products that work, but also to deliver them on time. To meet these twin goals, it is as important to monitor and improve the performance of design processes as it is to improve the performance of the products themselves. To address this need, we have developed a system for measurement, simulation, diagnosis, and optimization of iterative design processes, that works in conjunction with the Mentor WorkXpert products. In our approach, data collected during design is used to calibrate a probabilistic activity model, that forms the basis for subsequent analyses. This talk will describe the activity model, analyses based on this model, and data collection techniques using WorkXpert, as well as application examples.

Bio:
Jay Brockman received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1992. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame and has taught courses in computer architecture and VLSI design using Mentor Graphics tools. His research interests include design process management, optimization, and VLSI design. Dr. Brockman is serving as co-chair of the IEEE Workshop on Electronic Design Processes, to be held in Monterey, CA in April, 1997.