DFM-Aware Floorplanning for Electronic Design Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic design automation tools often lead to violations of design rules and manufacturing constraints due to a lack of awareness of design specifications among layout engineers, resulting in non-compliance with both design specifications and manufacturing requirements.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for graph-driven verification and debugging that incorporates design for manufacturing (DFM) awareness by identifying design specifications, determining electrical parasitics, and generating floorplans and placements that comply with both DFM requirements and design specifications, ensuring that blocks are inserted into layouts while adhering to specified electrical characteristics and manufacturing constraints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If layout engineers freely modify floorplan or layout to fix violations, then manufacturing constraints are met, but design specifications are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where the verification module checks both design specification compliance and manufacturing constraint compliance throughout the floorplanning and routing processes. When violations are detected, the system provides feedback to automatically adjust the layout while maintaining both types of compliance, rather than allowing free modification that could violate design specifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification module that acts as a mediator between design specification requirements and manufacturing constraint requirements. This module continuously verifies both sets of constraints during layout generation and modification, ensuring that fixes to manufacturing violations do not inadvertently cause design specification violations.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional layout modules are used to fix violations, then layout errors are corrected, but design specification compliance is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-identifying and categorizing both design specification requirements and manufacturing constraint requirements before layout generation. The verification module is configured with both sets of requirements in advance, enabling it to predictively check compliance during layout modification and prevent loss of design specification compliance when correcting layout errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by dynamically adjusting layout parameters (such as block positions, routing paths, and spacing) while continuously monitoring both design specification parameters and manufacturing constraint parameters. When layout errors are corrected, the system modifies geometric parameters in a controlled manner that maintains compliance with both requirement sets.
3Device complexity
If design specifications are not considered during floorplanning, then layout generation is simpler, but post-placement fixes are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by integrating design specification verification into the floorplanning phase itself. Rather than adding complexity to the floorplanning process, the verification module operates concurrently with layout generation, checking compliance with design specifications as the layout is being created. This eliminates the need for separate post-placement correction phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuity of useful action by maintaining continuous verification of design specification compliance throughout the entire floorplanning and routing process. The verification module operates continuously rather than intermittently, ensuring that compliance is maintained at all stages without requiring stop-and-fix cycles that would increase overall process time.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are techniques for implementing a physical design of an electronic design with design for manufacturing DFM and design specification awareness. These techniques identify one or more design specifications for generating a floorplan or a placement layout of an electronic design. Floorplanning or placement requirements are determined based in part or in whole upon pertinent electrical parasitics. The floorplan or the placement layout is generated at least by inserting a set of blocks based in part or in whole upon the floorplanning or placement requirements.