Automatic routing system with variable width interconnect
AssigneePulsic Limited
InventorsGraham Balsdon, Jeremy Birch, Mark Williams, Mark Waller, Tim Parker, Fumiaki Sato
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Abstract
A system automatically routes interconnect of an integrated circuit design using variable width interconnect lines. For example, a first automatically routed interconnect may have a different width from a second automatically routed interconnect. The system will vary the width of the interconnect lines based on certain factors or criteria. These factors include current or power handling, reliability, electromigration, voltage drops, self-heating, optical proximity effects, or other factors, or combinations of these factors. The system may use a gridded or a gridless (or shape-based) approach.
Claims9
An electronic automation system comprising:
- a database of an integrated circuit design;
- a mouse input device;
- a graphical user interface tool, capable of accessing and performing operations on the database, based on input from the mouse input device;
- and
- a shape-based automatic router tool, capable of accessing the database, the shape-based automatic router tool being arranged to:
- using flooding operations to determine an interconnect route path among at least three pins that will be coupled together by a single net, wherein each pin has an associated property value, and
- the route path has at least a first subnet route for a first subnet coupled to a first pin, a second subnet route for a second subject coupled to a second pin without passing through the first subnet, a third subnet route for a third subnet coupled to a third pin without passing through the first or second subnet, and a fourth subnet route for a fourth subnet which is coupled at a first end to the first and second subnets and coupled at a second end to the third subnet;
- based on the associated property values of the pins, calculating a current requirement for each subnet;
- generating the net comprising the first, second, third, and fourth subnets using the determined route path;
- and
- widening an interconnect width for the fourth subnet so the fourth subnet has a wider interconnect width than the first, second, or third subnet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.