Automating addition of power supply rails, fences, and level translators to a modular circuit design

A method for automatically inserting a component into a modular circuit design to satisfy one or more clock domain crossing constraints, the method comprising:

• a processor receiving a global constraint list for crossings between global clock domains within a modular circuit design including a plurality of hierarchically arranged instances of modules;
• the processor creating a local constraint list for crossings between local clock domains of a module in the modular circuit design based on a first mapping from local clock domains to global clock domains at a first instance of the module;
• the processor modifying the local constraint list based on a second mapping from local clock domains to global clock domains at a second instance of the module, such that the resulting local constraint list satisfies the global constraint list at both the first instance and the second instance of the module;
• the processor classifying component pins and ports of the module into clock domains in a manner to satisfy the local constraint list;
• the processor automatically inserting into the modular circuit design a component at a pin at which a crossing occurs between different clock domains in order to satisfy the local constraint list;
• and
• the processor further processing an output modular circuit design as updated by the inserting.

A program product for automatically adding power supply rails to a modular circuit design, the program product comprising:

• a storage device;
• and
• program instructions within the storage device that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform:
• receiving design data describing an input modular circuit design including a plurality of hierarchically arranged module instances and receiving an input specification for the modular circuit design, wherein the input specification includes a mapping from global clock domains to global voltage domains;
• assigning, to a first instance of a clocked primitive component in the modular circuit design, a global voltage domain based on which global clock domain clocks the first instance of the clocked primitive component;
• automatically adding, to the modular circuit design, first power supply rails to power the first instance of the clocked primitive component and connecting the first power supply rails from the first instance of the clocked primitive component to a first power supply for a first global voltage domain of the modular circuit design;
• assigning, to a second instance of the clocked primitive component, a second global voltage domain based on which global clock domain clocks the second instance of the clocked primitive component;
• automatically adding, to the modular circuit design, second power supply rails to power the second instance of the clocked primitive component and connecting the second power supply rails from the second instance of the clocked primitive component to a second power supply for the second global voltage domain of the modular circuit design;
• and
• further processing an output modular circuit design including the first and second power supply rails.

A program product for automatically inserting a component into a modular circuit design to satisfy clock constraints, the program product comprising:

• a storage device;
• and
• program instructions within the storage device that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform:
• receiving a global constraint list for crossings between global clock domains within a modular circuit design including a plurality of hierarchically arranged instances of modules;
• creating a local constraint list for crossings between local clock domains of a module in the modular circuit design based on a first mapping from local clock domains to global clock domains at a first instance of the module;
• modifying the local constraint list based on a second mapping from local clock domains to global clock domains at a second instance of the module, such that the resulting local constraint list satisfies the global constraint list at both the first instance and the second instance of the module;
• classifying component pins and ports of the module into clock domains in a manner to satisfy the local constraint list;
• automatically inserting into the modular circuit design a component at a pin at which a crossing occurs between different clock domains in order to satisfy the local constraint list;
• and
• further processing an output modular circuit design as updated by the inserting.

A data processing system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a storage device communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the storage device includes program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform:
• receiving design data describing an input modular circuit design including a plurality of hierarchically arranged module instances and receiving an input specification for the modular circuit design, wherein the input specification includes a mapping from global clock domains to global voltage domains;
• assigning, to a first instance of a clocked primitive component in the modular circuit design, a global voltage domain based on which global clock domain clocks the first instance of the clocked primitive component;
• automatically adding, to the modular circuit design, first power supply rails to power the first instance of the clocked primitive component and connecting the first power supply rails from the first instance of the clocked primitive component to a first power supply for a first global voltage domain of the modular circuit design;
• assigning, to a second instance of the clocked primitive component, a second global voltage domain based on which global clock domain clocks the second instance of the clocked primitive component;
• automatically adding, to the modular circuit design, second power supply rails to power the second instance of the clocked primitive component and connecting the second power supply rails from the second instance of the clocked primitive component to a second power supply for a second global voltage domain of the modular circuit design;
• and
• further processing an output modular circuit design including the first and second power supply rails.