Cluster-Based Power Architecture Interface for IC Debugging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current GUI tools for IC design verification can only visualize one error at a time, making it difficult for users to diagnose and address multiple design violations and their relationships, leading to increased verification cycles and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A cluster-based power architecture interface is developed, which generates a graphical user interface that displays individual components, graphical links between them, and violation clusters with shared root causes, allowing users to visualize and interact with multiple errors and their relationships simultaneously.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If existing GUI tools display only one error at a time, then the interface remains simple and easy to operate, but the verification efficiency decreases and more verification cycles are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the large volume of design violations into multiple violation clusters, where each cluster represents a group of violations with shared root causes. This segmentation allows the GUI to display multiple clustered violations simultaneously rather than one at a time, improving verification efficiency while maintaining interface simplicity through organized grouping.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple individual violations that share common root causes into single violation clusters. By combining related violations and displaying them together with their shared root cause information, the system enables users to address multiple issues simultaneously, thereby improving verification productivity without overwhelming the user interface.
2Productivity
If the GUI displays multiple errors simultaneously, then verification efficiency improves, but the device complexity and interface complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments violations into organized clusters based on shared root causes, creating a structured hierarchy where individual violations are grouped under common parent nodes. This segmentation reduces interface complexity by organizing information logically rather than presenting a flat, overwhelming list of all violations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension of organization by clustering violations based on their root causes, adding a hierarchical layer to the traditional single-level violation display. This dimensional change allows multiple violations to be displayed simultaneously in an organized manner, improving productivity without proportionally increasing interface complexity.
3Productivity
If violation clusters with shared root causes are generated and displayed, then debugging efficiency improves, but the processing complexity and time required for analysis increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary analysis to automatically identify and group violations with shared root causes before displaying them to the user. By pre-processing the violation data to create clustered groups with identified root causes, the system reduces the time users would otherwise spend manually analyzing relationships between violations, thereby improving debugging efficiency without significant additional analysis time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically analyzing violations, identifying their root causes, and organizing them into clusters without requiring manual user intervention. This automated clustering process improves debugging efficiency by eliminating the need for users to manually trace relationships between violations, while the analysis time is minimized through efficient automated processing.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method generates cluster-based power architecture interfaces for an integrated circuit (IC) design under test (DUT) debugging by receiving design data for an IC DUT, determining power characteristic data for the IC DUT, generating display components within a graphical user interface (GUI) corresponding to individual components encompassed within a power intent hierarchy corresponding with the IC DUT, generating graphical links between displayed components, overlaying interactive elements corresponding with generated violation clusters over graphical links, and providing root-cause interactive elements within the generated GUI having visual associations with the interactive components corresponding with particular violation clusters.