PUNCH: A Software Infrastructure for Network-Based CAD

PUNCH, the Purdue University Network Computing Hubs, is an infrastructure for network-based VLSI CAD and TCAD that allows users to access and run existing software tools via standard world-wide web browsers. Tools do not have to be written in any particular language, and access to source-code is not required. The PUNCH infrastructure is geographically distributed, but this is transparent to users, who can run tools wherever they reside. PUNCH can be logically divided into multiple discipline-specific ‘‘hubs’’ (see Figure 1). Currently, there are four hubs that contain tools for semiconductor technology, VLSI design, computer architecture, and parallel processing. A fifth hub is devoted to tools that were developed with the support of the Semiconductor Research Corporation. These hubs contain over thirty tools from eight universities and four vendors, and serve more than 500 users from Purdue, across the US, and in Europe. The current system configuration uses a dedicated HP-9000/C110 for the front-end, and distributes most runs among approximately ten shared compute-servers located at Purdue, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Maryland, and Texas at Austin. During the past three years, PUNCH users have logged approximately one million hits and have performed over fifty thousand simulations. PUNCH can be accessed at ‘‘http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/labs/punch/’’; courtesy accounts are available. Our talk will focus on the system architecture, design philosophy, functionality, experiences, and the ways in which the project can be leveraged by the SRC community.