Method of analyzing and detecting critical cells

A computer program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer program code is configured to cause a system having at least one processor to execute:

• obtaining a feature vector for each cell in a group of cells, wherein the feature vector for a cell includes a score value for each feature in a set of features selected for characterizing the group of cells;
• initializing a number k to an initial value;
• and
• repetitively generating an incremental value of the number k until a stabilized condition is met, and for each value of the number k, clustering the cells into a total of k clusters and generating a list of top ranked critical cells in the k clusters.

A computer program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer program code is configured to cause a system having at least one processor to execute:

• loading a list of prioritized features having priorities ordered by user inputs;
• obtaining a feature vector for each cell in a group of cells, wherein the feature vector for a cell includes a score value for each feature in a set of features selected for characterizing the group of cells;
• determining a selected number for clustering cells based on the list of prioritized features associated with the set of features;
• clustering cells in the group into the selected number of clusters;
• generating a list of ranked critical cells in the selected number of clusters based on the list of prioritized features associated with the set of features;
• and
• outputting the list of ranked critical cells for use in adjusting cell layouts based on ranked critical cells.