Fig. 8.1 shows the data flow of the VLSICAP standalone version. A geometry description file (extension .IDA) is fed into the grid generator MESHCP together with an input deck PRCARD. The grid generator produces a transfer file (extension .TAB) for the capacitance calculator VLSICP containing the geometry and the grid. Additionally, the (possibly quantitatively modified, since multiply connected domains are simplified to single connected ones) geometry is written by MESHCP into a .GEO file, and the grid onto a .GRD file for intermediate visualization.
Figure 8.1: Data flow in the VLSICAP standalone version