Patent · US Expired

Method for determining locations of interconnect repeater farms during physical design of integrated circuits

US6408426B1 · kind B1 · utility

5Cited by
7References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 19, 2000
Grant dateJun 18, 2002
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 19, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F30/392
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and system for determining locations of interconnect repeater farms in the physical design of an integrated circuit is presented. The optimal unconstrained repeater locations are calculated for a given routing list of interconnect nets. Repeater farms are defined in areas of concentration of the calculated optimal unconstrained repeater locations. The optimal constrained repeater locations are then calculated such that the repeater locations are constrained to the repeater farms. A set of sub-optimal interconnect nets which are hurt the most from the repeater farm constraint are selected. The optimal unconstrained repeater locations for the selected set of sub-optimal interconnect nets are then calculated and additional repeater farms are defined to encompass areas of concentration of the optimal repeater locations of the sub-optimal interconnect nets. The process is repeated until desired performance gain is achieved.

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