Automated buffer insertion incorporating congestion relief for use in connection with physical design of integrated circuit
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorAnthony DeGroff Drumm
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus, program product and method use a congestion relief algorithm in connection with automated buffer insertion to relieve potential congestion during post-layout interconnect routing. The congestion relief algorithm is utilized to manipulate a plurality of L-shaped spans defined in a routing tree, and is configured to apply the congestion relief algorithm to at least a first L-shaped span among the plurality of L-shaped spans by rerouting the first L-shaped span at least partially within a rectangular area bounded by the first L-shaped span.
Claims34
A computer-implemented method of generating a physical design for an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
- (a) generating a routing tree for an integrated circuit design, including applying a congestion relief algorithm to a plurality of L-shaped spans defined in the routing tree, wherein applying the congestion relief algorithm to a first L-shaped span among the plurality of L-shaped spans includes rerouting the first L-shaped span at least partially within a rectangular area bounded by the first L-shaped span;
- and
- (b) automatically inserting buffers into the integrated circuit design using the routing tree.
An apparatus, comprising:
- (a) a processor;
- and
- (b) program code configured to be executed by the processor to generate a physical design for an integrated circuit by generating a routing tree for an integrated circuit design and automatically inserting buffers into the integrated circuit design using the routing tree, wherein the program code is configured to generate the routing tree at least in part by applying a congestion relief algorithm to a plurality of L-shaped spans defined in the routing tree, and wherein the program code is configured to apply the congestion relief algorithm to a first L-shaped span among the plurality of L-shaped spans by rerouting the first L-shaped span at least partially within a rectangular area bounded by the first L-shaped span.
A program product, comprising:
- (a) program code configured to generate a physical design for an integrated circuit by generating a routing tree for an integrated circuit design and automatically inserting buffers into the integrated circuit design using the routing tree, wherein the program code is configured to generate the routing tree at least in part by applying a congestion relief algorithm to a plurality of L-shaped spans defined in the routing tree, and wherein the program code is configured to apply the congestion relief algorithm to a first L-shaped span among the plurality of L-shaped spans by rerouting the first L-shaped span at least partially within a rectangular area bounded by the first L-shaped span;
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- (b) a signal bearing medium bearing the program code.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.