Integrated circuit power net analysis
AssigneeSynopsys, Inc.
InventorsJeh-Fu Tuan, Peiqi He
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for power net analysis of integrated circuits is provided. A circuit simulator determines current values for integrated circuit devices at specified supply voltages. A power net simulator uses the current values to calculate characteristics of the power net. The characteristics include voltage drop, current density and ground bounce. A layout representation of the power net is shown on a computer display along with the user-specified characteristics.
Claims20
A method of analyzing power nets of a integrated circuit using a computer system comprising:
- receiving a circuit layout of an integrated circuit having circuit elements;
- creating a circuit net list from the circuit layout;
- creating a power net netlist from information in the circuit netlist, the power net netlist having a power pad connected to at least one of the circuit elements;
- simulating operation of the integrated circuit using the circuit netlist for generating current information for at least one of the circuit elements connected to a power net defined by the power net netlist;
- and
- simulating operation of the power net using the current information for determining a charateristic relating to a portion of the power net.
A system for analyzing a plurality of power nets of an integrated circuit, comprising:
- a power net extractor configured to create a power net netlist from the plurality of power nets of the integrated circuit;
- a circuit simulator coupled to the power net extractor, the circuit simulator configured to produce simulation information by generating a cut through a circuit element in the integrated circuit;
- and
- a power net simulator coupled to the circuit simulator, the power net simulator configured to utilize the simulation information to determine a characteristic of a portion of the integrated circuit.
A computer readable media containing program code for implementing a method of simulating power nets of an integrated circuit, the computer readable media comprising:
- code for receiving a circuit layout of an integrated circuit having circuit elements;
- code for creating a circuit netlist from the circuit layout;
- code for creating a power net netlist from information in the circuit netlist, the power net netlist having a power pad connected to at least one of the circuit elements;
- code for simulating operation of the integrated circuit using the circuit netlist for generating current information for at least one of the circuit elements connected to a power net defined by the power net netlist;
- and
- code for simulating operation of the power net using the current information for determining a characteristic relating to a portion of the power net.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.