Methods and apparatus for diagonal route shielding

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor designs an integrated circuit (“IC”) layout, the IC layout comprising a plurality of nets, each net comprising a plurality of routable elements, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

• identifying a particular net as a net to be shielded;
• defining route segments to connect the routable elements of the particular net;
• and
• defining shield segments adjacent to at least one of the route segments, wherein at least one of the shield segments is oriented diagonally with respect to a boundary of the IC layout, wherein a set of shield segments on a particular layer of the IC layout encapsulates at least one particular route segment on said particular layer, each shield segment representative of an IC shield segment formed by a conductive material that connects to a particular power state, wherein the conductive material shields a first wire segment on an IC from forming an electrical connection with a second wire segment on the IC, said first and second wire segments are based on first and second route segments.

A system comprising:

• at least one processor for executing sets of instructions;
• and
• a memory that stores a computer program for designing an integrated circuit (“IC”) layout, the IC layout comprising a plurality of nets, each net comprising a plurality of routable elements, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:
• identifying a particular net as a net to be shielded;
• defining route segments to connect the routable elements of the particular net;
• and
• defining shield segments adjacent to at least one of the route segments, wherein at least one of the shield segments is oriented diagonally with respect to a boundary of the IC layout, wherein a set of shield segments on a particular layer of the IC layout encapsulates at least one particular route segment on said particular layer, each shield segment representative of an IC shield segment formed by a conductive material that connects to a particular power state, wherein the conductive material shields a first wire segment on an IC from forming an electrical connection with a second wire segment on the IC, said first and second wire segments are based on first and second route segments.