Microfluidic design automation method and system

A method for device implementation of a microfluidic circuit comprising a plurality of microfluidic components, said method comprising:

• providing said plurality of microfluidic components on a template to form a physical layout of said microfluidic circuit design;
• connecting said plurality of microfluidic components automatically, wherein the microfluidic components have associated VHDL-AMS or Verilog-AMS models;
• writing said physical layout to a layout file to be used for manufacturing;
• selecting a pattern for a die to be repetitively laid out on a wafer, said die comprising said physical layout;
• and
• automatically laying out said pattern on said wafer by using said layout file.

A microfluidic circuit design method comprising:

• developing synthesizable computer code for a design;
• generating a microfluidic circuit schematic, comprising a plurality of symbols for microfluidic components, using said synthesizable computer code;
• functionally simulating said microfluidic circuit schematic;
• placing and routing on a template said microfluidic components to form a physical layout;
• connecting said plurality of microfluidic components automatically, wherein the microfluidic components have associated VHDL-AMS or Verilog-AMS models;
• physically simulating said physical layout using dynamic simulation models of said microfluidic components;
• and
• writing to a layout file said physical layout.

A microfluidic circuit design system comprising:

• a synthesis module for synthesizing software of a design into a schematic having a plurality of connected symbols of microfluidic components;
• a design capture module for displaying said schematic;
• a functional analysis module for functionally simulating selected microfluidic components of the schematic;
• a physical implementation module for placing and routing said microfluidic components into a physical layout according to said design;
• a physical layout module including an auto-routing module for connecting said microfluidic components automatically;
• and
• a physical analysis module for physically simulating the components in the physical layout, wherein physically simulating said physical layout comprises simulating actuation of dynamic fluid flow in the components using control signals generated by a Boolean based language.

A system for physically laying out a microfluidic circuit having a plurality of microfluidic components, comprising:

• a library module comprising information associated with said plurality of microfluidic components;
• a design rule checking module having a plurality of layout rules, wherein said design rule checking module is configured to perform at least one check on I/O placement, channel size mismatch, and dangling channels;
• and
• a physical layout module for placing and routing said plurality of microfluidic components on a template using said information and said plurality of layout rules, wherein said physical layout module includes an auto-routing module for connecting said plurality of microfluidic components automatically.

A system for analyzing a micro fluidic circuit having a plurality of microfluidic components, comprising:

• a physical layout comprising said plurality of microfluidic components, after placement and routing on a template;
• an auto-routing module for connecting said plurality of microfluidic components automatically;
• a model library comprising dynamic simulation models for said plurality of microfluidic components, wherein the microfluidic components have associated VHDL-AMS or Verilog-AMS models;
• and
• a dynamic microfluidic simulator for simulating said physical layout using said dynamic simulation models.

A computer program product stored in a computer readable medium for validating a physical layout of a microfluidic circuit design comprising a plurality of microfluidic components, said computer program product comprising:

• code for providing said plurality of microfluidic components on a template to form said physical layout of said micro fluidic circuit design;
• code for connecting said plurality of microfluidic components automatically;
• code for extracting a netlist information from said physical layout;
• and
• using a dynamic simulation model for each component of said plurality of microfluidic components on said template and said netlist information, code for physically simulating said physical layout, wherein physically simulating said physical layout comprises simulating actuation of dynamic fluid flow in the components using control signals generated by a Boolean based language.

A computer program product stored in a computer readable medium for device implementation of a microfluidic circuit comprising a plurality of microfluidic components, said computer program product comprising:

• code for providing said plurality of microfluidic components on a template to form a physical layout of said microfluidic circuit design;
• code for connecting said plurality of microfluidic components automatically, wherein the microfluidic components have associated VHDL-AMS or Verilog-AMS models;
• code for writing said physical layout to a layout file to be used for manufacturing;
• code for selecting a pattern for a die to be repetitively laid out on a wafer, said die comprising said physical layout;
• and
• code for automatically laying out said pattern on said wafer by using said layout file.