Hierarchical stochastic analysis process optimization for integrated circuit design and manufacture
US8005660B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 27, 2007 |
| Grant date | Aug 23, 2011 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02P90/02
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An Integrated Circuit Design tool incorporating a Stochastic Analysis Process (“SAP”) is described. The SAP can be applied on many levels of circuit components including transistor devices, logic gate devices, and System-on-Chip or chip designs. The SAP replaces the large number of traditional Monte Carlo simulations with operations using a small number of sampling points or corners. The SAP is a hierarchical approach using a model fitting process to generate a model that can be used with any number of performance metrics to generate performance variation predictions along with corresponding statistical information (e.g., mean, three-sigma probability, etc.). A hierarchical SAP process breaks an overall circuit into a plurality of subcircuits and performs circuit simulation and SAP analysis steps on each subcircuit. An integration and reduction process combines the analysis results of each subcircuit, and a final SPICE/SAP process provides a model for the overall circuit based on the subcircuits.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.