Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for automated circuit design

US7251800B2 · kind B2 · utility

31Cited by
7References
76Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 27, 2004
Grant dateJul 31, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 17, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2119/12
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to automatically modify a circuit design according to the possible deviation in the subsequent implementation of the circuit. In one aspect, a method to design a circuit includes: determining whether a design constraint is likely to be violated during a subsequent routing implementation of a design of the circuit; and, modifying the design of the circuit to reduce likelihood of the design constraint being violated during a subsequent implementation. For example, a route for a net with a number of fanout larger than two and on a timing critical or near-critical path may be considered sensitive to route topology such that an alternative routing path may lead to a violation in timing constraint; to reduce the possibility of a timing problem in a subsequent routing solution, a transformation can be selectively applied to the circuit design to an extent not worsening a cost function.

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