Chapter 1

Introduction

This chapter briefly describes the Design Manager and Flow Engine. It describes their function, place in the design flow, major features, inputs and outputs, and the device architectures with which they work. It also outlines the basic procedure for using these tools. Because the Design Manager and Flow Engine are very closely integrated, this manual covers the Design Manager and Flow Engine as a single software application. This chapter contains the following sections.

• “Overview”
  
  
• “Design Flow”
  
  
• “Inputs and Outputs”
  
  
• “Architectures”
  
  
• “Design Manager Fundamentals”
  
  
• “Flow Engine Fundamentals”