Determining feasibility of IC edits
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsJohn M. Bach, Rand B. Carawan, Hemant Joshi, David A. Thomas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A computer method of analyzing an integrated circuit (“IC”) masked design data, comprising grouping into a cluster areas of layers preceding a target metal layer that are suitable for milling, deleting portions of the target metal layer that do not meet minimum tool spacing requirements to produce a modified metal layer, deleting portions of the modified metal layer that do not meet minimum design rule width requirements to produce a final metal layer, and comparing the final metal layer and the cluster to identify common areas.
Claims21
A computer method of analyzing an integrated circuit (“IC”) masked design data, comprising:
- grouping into a cluster areas of layers preceding a target metal layer that are suitable for milling;
- deleting portions of the target metal layer that do not meet minimum tool spacing requirements to produce a modified metal layer;
- deleting portions of the modified metal layer that do not meet minimum design rule width requirements to produce a final metal layer;
- and
- comparing the final metal layer and the group of the cluster areas of layers preceding the target metal layer to identify common areas.
A system for evaluating a potential edit location on an electronic flip chip IC masked design data, comprising:
- a display;
- a processor coupled to the display;
- a memory coupled to the processor, said memory storing a processor-executable code, wherein, when executed, said code causes the processor to:
- group into a group areas of layers preceding a target metal layer that are suitable for milling;
- delete portions of the target metal layer that do not meet minimum tool spacing requirements to produce a modified metal layer;
- delete portions of the modified metal layer that do not meet minimum width requirements to produce a final metal layer;
- and
- generate a virtual layer that identifies areas common to both the target metal layer and the group of the cluster areas of layers preceding the target metal layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.