Automated decoupling capacitor insertion

In an electronic device, a method, comprising the steps of:

• providing a representation of at least a portion of an integrated circuit, said portion being partitioned into cells wherein each cell is a logical component having a drive strength that represents current for driving the logical component and wherein components may be active during a given phase of a clock signal;
• for a given area or the representation containing a group of cells, determining a first cumulative drive strength for the component in the group of cells that are active during a first phase of the clock signal and a second cumulative drive strength for the components in the group of cells that are active during a second phase of the clock signal:
• determining that a decoupling capacitor is needed for the group of cells where the first cumulative drive strength exceeds a first threshold;
• and
• determining that a decoupling capacitor is needed for the group of cells where the second cumulative drive strength exceeds a second threshold.

In an electronic device, a method comprising the steps of:

• providing a representation of an integrated circuit containing cells, wherein each cell is a single component having a drive strength that represents a current necessary to drive the logical component of the cell;
• sliding a window over the integrated circuit at discrete positions, wherein at each discrete position said window encompasses at least one cell;
• for each discrete position of the window
• (i) calculating a cumulative drive strength representing a sum of drive strengths for the components of the cells encompassed in the window at the discrete position;
• and
• (ii) where the cumulative drive strength exceeds a threshold, determining that a decoupling capacitor is needed for the cells encompassed in the window at the discrete position.

A system for determining localized decoupling capacitor requirements of an electronic device comprising:

• a display for reviewing a layout of the electronic device by a user;
• an input device for use by the user;
• a processor for executing instruments in response to input from the input device;
• and
• a drive strength facility for determining the localized decoupling capacitor requirements for the electronic device based on a cell drive strength value wherein the cell represents a single component and the cell drive strength value represents an amperage necessary to drive the component of the cell.

A computer readable medium holding instructions for performing a method on a computer system, said method, comprising the steps of:

• providing a visual representation of an electronic device in a layout format wherein said electronic device contains cells and wherein each cell is one or more logical components and each cell has a drive strength that represents an amperage necessary to drive the one or more logical components of the cell;
• identifying groups of cells in the representation located in proximity to each other;
• summing the drive strengths of at least some cells in each of the groups of cells to determine a cumulative drive strength for each of the groups of cells;
• and
• determining that a decoupling capacitor is needed for the groups of cells having a cumulative drive strength in excess of a value.