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US 8,478,553 B2Granted
System for calculating resistive values for microelectronics CAD
AssigneeEdxact
InventorsFrancois Charlet, Mathias Silvant
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for calculating resistive values of an electronic circuit represented in the form of masks and connections includes defining the circuit in the form of a first list of electrical components and connections between them, identifying circuit entry and exit ports, selecting part of the resistive components of the circuit alone, producing a matrix of resistances of the resistive components alone selected in the previous step, and calculating equivalent resistances.
Claims7
A method for verifying the design of an electronic circuit represented in the form of masks and connections, the method comprising:
- using a computer to:
- (a) define the circuit, using one or more extraction programs, in the form of a first list of electrical components and connections between them, the first list identifying resistive and non-resistive components of the circuit from a layout obtained from lithographic masks or descriptions of lithographic masks of the electronic circuit;
- (b) identify entry ports and exit ports of said electronic circuit, said entry ports and exit ports being known from the layout of the circuit;
- (c) select from said list only the resistive components of said electronic circuit;
- (d) produce a matrix of resistances from the selected resistive components, the matrix of resistances using a resistance network tree representation having Nc vertices and Nb branches and comprising a set in matrix form of a value RTT representing a vector of branch resistors, a value RCT representing a vector of resistors of a co-tree connected in parallel, and a value RCC representing a vector of resistors of the co-tree;
- (e) calculate equivalent resistances of the matrix of resistances;
- and
- (f) use the calculated equivalent resistances to perform tests on the electronic circuit design,
- the method further comprising:
- modifying the electronic circuit design or commencing production of the electronic circuit depending on the outcome of the tests.
7 more elements
A method for verifying the design of an electronic circuit represented in the form of masks and connections, the method comprising:
- using a computer to:
- (a) define the circuit, using one or more extraction programs, in the form of a first list of electrical components and connections between them, the first list identifying resistive and non-resistive components of the circuit from a layout obtained from lithographic masks or descriptions of lithographic masks of the electronic circuit;
- (b) identify entry ports and exit ports of said electronic circuit, said entry ports and exit ports being known from the layout of the circuit;
- (c) select from said list only the resistive components of said electronic circuit;
- (d) produce a matrix of resistances from the selected resistive components, comprising the steps of:
- defining a resistive network having an integer number (Nc) of vertices and an integer number (Nb) of branches, each branch being associated with a resistor Ri, where i is an integer number associated with a particular resistor;
- constructing a tree T of the network with size Nt with the associated co-tree CT;
- establishing meshed equations of the tree T based on Kirchhoff's laws;
- establishing the matrix of resistances, wherein the matrix of resistances comprises:
- the vector of branch resistance vector RTT of tree T,
- the vector of resistances of co-tree CT connected in parallel, and
- the vector of resistances of co-tree CT;
- and
- (e) calculate equivalent resistances, comprising a reduction in the matrix of resistances by integrating cycle equations;
- and
- (f) perform, using the calculated equivalent resistances, tests on the electronic circuit design,
- the method further comprising:
- modifying the electronic circuit design or commencing production of the electronic circuit depending on the outcome of the tests.
15 more elements
A device for calculating resistive values of an electronic circuit, represented in the form of masks and connections, comprising a computer that performs:
- a) receiving from one or more extraction programs a definition of the circuit in the form of a first list of electrical components and connections between them, the first list identifying resistive and non-resistive components of the circuit from a layout obtained from lithographic masks or descriptions of lithographic masks of the electronic circuit;
- b) identifying entry ports and exit ports of said electronic circuit, said entry ports and exit ports being known from the layout of the circuit;
- c) selecting from said list only the resistive components of said electronic circuit;
- d) producing a matrix of resistances from the selected resistive components, the matrix of resistances using a resistance network tree representation having Nc vertices and Nb branches and comprising a set in matrix form of a value RTT representing a vector of branch resistors, a value RCT representing a vector of resistors of a co-tree connected in parallel, and a value Rcc representing a vector of resistors of the co-tree;
- and
- e) calculating equivalent resistances of the matrix of resistances.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.