Standard cell design incorporating phase information

A method of designing an integrated circuit, the method comprising:

• receiving a design for the integrated circuit;
• accessing a library of standard cells, wherein a first group of standard cells in the library of standard cells includes phase information, the phase information including valid phase sets based on the first group of standard cells, each of the valid phase sets comprising at least two cell versions corresponding to one of the first group of standard cells, each of the at least two cell versions indicating a phase for a shifter on each edge of the standard cell;
• identifying a second group of standard cells from the first group of standard cells to implement the design;
• placing the second group of standard cells to implement the design as an implemented pattern;
• and
• selecting one of the at least two cell versions for each of the second group of standard cells in the implemented pattern.

A method of designing a phase shifting mask (PSM), the method comprising:

• receiving a design;
• accessing a library of standard cells including phase information, the phase information including at least two cell versions for each standard cell in the library of standard cells, a cell version indicating a phase for a shifter associated with each edge of the standard cell;
• identifying standard cells to implement the design;
• placing the identified standard cells in rows to implement the design;
• selecting a cell version for an identified standard cell at an end of a row;
• propagating phase assignments along the row based on previously selected cell versions;
• repeating the steps of selecting and propagating for each row;
• and
• outputting a phase-shifted design for the PSM.

A standard cell for designing an integrated circuit, the standard cell including:

• vertical edges having associated left/right shifters;
• horizontal edges having associated top/bottom shifters;
• and
• at least one phase-shifted feature.

A computer program for defining a photolithographic mask, the computer program including:

• a source code segment for receiving a design;
• a source code segment for accessing a library of standard cells, the library including a first group of standard cells with phase information, the phase information including valid phase sets based on the first group of standard cells, each of the valid phase sets including two or more cell versions;
• a source code segment for identifying a second group of standard cells from the library to implement the design;
• a source code segment for placing the second group of standard cells to implement the design;
• and
• a source code segment for selecting one of the two or more cell versions from the valid phase sets for each placed standard cell, the one of the two or more cell versions indicating a phase for a shifter on each edge of the standard cell.

A system for designing a phase shifting mask (PSM), the system comprising:

• means for receiving a design;
• means for accessing a library of standard cells including phase information, the phase information including at least two cell versions for each standard cell, wherein a cell version indicates a phase for a shifter associated with each edge of the standard cell;
• means for identifying standard cells to implement the design;
• means for placing the identified standard cells in rows to implement the design;
• means for selecting a cell version for an identified standard cell at an end of a row;
• means for propagating phase assignments along the row based on previously-selected cell versions;
• means for repeating the steps of selecting and propagating for each row;
• and
• means for outputting a phase-shifted design for the PSM.