Layout Review & Sign-off
Slam-View is SkyCadEda's lightweight GDSII and OASIS layout viewer purpose-built for design review, sign-off inspection, and mask data verification on Linux. With fast rendering, multi-display support, overlay comparison, and measurement tools, Slam-View gives layout engineers, design managers, and verification teams the visibility they need to approve designs with confidence — without the overhead of a full layout editor.
Engagement focus
Capabilities
Slam-View loads and renders large GDSII and OASIS layout databases with optimized display pipelines. Pan, zoom, and layer toggle operations remain responsive even on multi-million-cell custom IC designs, making it the ideal GDSII viewer for full-chip review and hierarchical design exploration.
Spread layout views across multiple monitors for side-by-side comparison of design revisions, layer overlays, and hierarchical perspectives. The multi-display sign-off workspace enables design review teams to inspect layouts efficiently during formal sign-off sessions and design reviews.
Overlay two layout revisions or two different database formats to visually identify changes, mismatches, and unintended modifications. Slam-View layout comparison tool highlights geometric differences with color-coded overlays, making revision verification fast and reliable.
Inspect mask layers, measure geometries, verify layer assignments, and check text annotations with precision measurement tools. Slam-View supports foundry mask data verification workflows with accurate coordinate readout, distance measurement, and area query functions.
Expected outcomes
Not every engineer who needs to inspect layout data needs — or wants — a full layout editor. Verification engineers, design managers, mask engineers, and foundry liaisons all need fast, reliable GDSII viewer and OASIS viewer capabilities without the complexity and licensing cost of a full custom IC layout platform. Slam-View fills this role as a dedicated layout review tool.
As a sign-off viewer, Slam-View is optimized for the review workflow: load a design quickly, navigate hierarchy, toggle layers on and off, measure critical geometries, compare against a golden reference, and annotate findings. The interface is clean and focused, keeping reviewers productive without distracting editing toolbars or menus.
Before sending GDSII or OASIS data to the foundry, mask data verification is essential. Slam-View serves as a mask data viewer for final checks — layer correctness, text labels, cell boundary alignment, seal ring integrity, and pad frame consistency. Combined with overlay comparison, it provides a last-line-of-defense verification step in the tape-out flow.
Slam-View pairs with Slam-Edit in the SkyCadEda SLAM product suite. Layout engineers use Slam-Edit for editing tasks, while reviewers, managers, and mask engineers use Slam-View for inspection and sign-off. Both tools share the same optimized GDSII and OASIS database engine for consistent rendering and interoperability.
FAQ
A layout viewer like Slam-View is designed for read-only inspection, review, measurement, and comparison of GDSII and OASIS layout data. A layout editor like Slam-Edit provides full editing capabilities — creating, modifying, and saving layout geometry. Viewers are lighter weight, faster to deploy, and ideal for design review, sign-off, and verification tasks where editing is not required.
Slam-View supports sign-off review with multi-display workspace layouts, overlay comparison for revision checking, layer visibility controls for focused inspection, measurement tools for geometry verification, and annotation capabilities for marking review comments. These features enable structured, repeatable sign-off review sessions for custom IC tape-out.
Yes. Slam-View overlay comparison feature loads two layout databases simultaneously and renders them with color-coded overlays to highlight geometric differences. This is useful for comparing design revisions, verifying layout vs. golden reference, checking IP integration, and confirming that DRC fixes were applied correctly.
Yes. Slam-View is designed for multi-display environments common in sign-off review rooms. You can open different hierarchical levels, layer groups, or layout regions on separate monitors. This multi-display capability is especially useful during formal design reviews where multiple stakeholders inspect different aspects of the layout simultaneously.