Integrated circuit design method, system and computer program product

A system for modifying a layout for an integrated circuit (IC), said system comprising:

• a processor and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium connected to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium to perform operations comprising:
• selecting, in the layout, a circuit region to be scaled;
• setting a fixed area including a fixed feature in the selected circuit region;
• and
• scaling the selected circuit region along a first direction, without scaling the fixed area including the fixed feature, to obtain a modified layout for the IC,
• wherein
• said scaling comprises causing a change of a width of the selected circuit region along the first direction,
• said setting further comprises setting, as a pushed area, an area overlapping the selected circuit region along the first direction, and
• said operations further comprise moving the pushed area along the first direction by a distance corresponding to the change of the width of the selected circuit region.

A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing instructions therein which are executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform a process of modifying a layout for an integrated circuit (IC), the process comprising:

• selecting, in the layout, a circuit region to be scaled along a first direction, the layout comprising a first conductive pattern which extends across a boundary of the selected circuit region in a second direction transverse to the first direction;
• scaling the selected circuit region along the first direction, said scaling comprising moving the first conductive pattern along the first direction;
• and
• after said scaling, moving the first conductive pattern back to an initial position of the first conductive pattern before said scaling.