Patent · US Expired

Method of designing a constraint-driven integrated circuit layout

US6230304A · kind A · utility

114Cited by
51References
86Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 2, 1998
Grant dateMay 8, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 2, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F30/3953
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An automated method for designing an integrated circuit layout with a computer, based upon an electronic circuit description and upon a selected plurality of cells from a cell library, comprising the steps of: (a) assigning each of the cells to one of a plurality of buckets designated on the integrated circuit layout, each of the cells being connected to one of the other cells; (b) performing global routing to connect at least some of the selected cells of step (a) together such that global routes are formed to provide net topology information; (c) performing track routing which sets the position of each of the global routes; (d) performing detailed placement such that the positions of all selected cells are fixed within each of the buckets designated on the integrated circuit layout; and (e) performing detailed routing such that detailed routes are formed to complete the integrated circuit layout.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.