Method and apparatus for locating short circuit faults in an integrated circuit layout
US7207018B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 4, 2004 |
| Grant date | Apr 17, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 16, 2025 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F30/398
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The method and apparatus in accordance with the present invention determines the locations of incorrectly connected polygons in a polygon representation of an integrated circuit layout. These incorrectly connected polygons result in short circuits, which often occur for major signal busses such as power and ground. It can be time-consuming to determine the exact location of the short. The invention includes the step of tessellating the polygon representation, including each conductive layer, into predetermined shapes such as triangles or trapezoids. Each of the triangles or trapezoids is then translated into a node for the development of a nodal network where nodes are connected directly to one another to represent shapes having edges adjacent to other shape edges. The current capacity of each connection between adjacent nodes is then specified. Two nodes that are electrically connected to the incorrectly connected polygons are selected and used as parameters for a network flow analysis algorithm. This algorithm determines the areas of high density where high flow is dictated by the triangle or trapezoid having the lowest current capacity. The areas of high density are flagged as p…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.