Design method estimating signal delay time with netlist in light of terminal line in macro, and program

A computer program product, in a computer readable medium, that causes a computer to execute estimation calculation of signal delay time in a design circuit, comprising instructions for:

• laying out functional blocks of the design circuit based on a first netlist;
• creating a second netlist by adding a first path information to the first netlist, the first path information defining a path of an inter-block line connecting between the functional blocks;
• creating a third netlist by adding a second path information to the second netlist, the second path information defining an intra-block line connected to a terminal of each functional block from inside of each functional block;
• creating an inter-instance line which combines the inter-block line and the intra-block line based on the first path information and the second path information included in the third netlist, and creating a fourth netlist that models a line resistance and a line capacitance of the inter-instance line;
• and
• causing the computer to execute the estimation calculation of the delay time based on information of the fourth netlist.

A netlist manipulation program that causes a computer to execute creation of a netlist used for calculation of signal delay time in a design circuit, the netlist manipulation program comprising:

• a first memory that receives a second netlist describing information on a functional block of the design circuit created from layout arrangement based on a first netlist created from the design circuit and a first path information defining a path of an inter-block line connecting between the functional blocks, and storing a terminal name of the functional block;
• a second memory that stores a terminal name of a macro netlist in which a second path information is described, the second path information defining a path of an intra-block line connected to a terminal of the functional block from inside of the functional block;
• a comparator that compares the terminal name stored in the first memory with the terminal name stored in the second memory;
• and
• an adding portion that adds the second path information connected to a terminal corresponding to the matching terminal name in the macro netlist to the terminal of the second netlist whose terminal name is matched by the comparator.