Duplicate Circuit Section Identification for OPC Latency Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of modern electronic circuit designs requires significant computational resources for Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) processes, which can be inefficient due to the need for complex hierarchy data and alignment with repeating design structures, leading to high execution latency and resource utilization.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a duplicate section technology that identifies and processes duplicate circuit sections in partitioned designs without relying on hierarchy data, using techniques like polygon hashing and pattern matching, allowing for efficient parallelism and scalability in OPC processes by applying OPC results to identical sections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional OPC processes are used with hierarchy data and repeating design structures, then manufacturing precision is maintained, but execution time and computational resource utilization increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified copies of circuit sections by partitioning the circuit design into multiple sections and identifying duplicate sections. Instead of processing the complete hierarchical design with all its complexity, the system processes individual section copies independently, applying the same OPC corrections to duplicate sections without needing to traverse the original hierarchy structure. This copying approach maintains manufacturing precision while dramatically reducing execution time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the complete circuit design into multiple partitioned sections, allowing independent processing of each section. By segmenting the design, the system eliminates the need to process the entire hierarchical structure as a single unit, enabling parallel processing and reducing overall execution latency while maintaining the accuracy required for manufacturing precision.
2Manufacturing precision
If complete hierarchy data is used for OPC processing, then design accuracy is preserved, but computational resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential geometric information needed for OPC processing from the complete hierarchy data by partitioning the circuit design into sections. Instead of loading and processing the entire hierarchical database including all metadata, annotations, and structural information, the system extracts and processes only the relevant circuit geometry and layout data, significantly reducing computational resource utilization while preserving design accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates simplified copies of circuit sections that contain only the necessary geometric data for OPC processing, eliminating the need to access and process the complete hierarchy structure. These section copies retain the essential design information needed for accurate OPC while consuming far fewer computational resources than processing the full hierarchy.
3Manufacturing precision
If duplicate sections are processed individually without identification, then processing thoroughness is maintained, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent identifies duplicate circuit sections by comparing geometric characteristics and creates a mapping between duplicates. Once identified, the system processes one representative section and automatically applies the same OPC corrections to all duplicate sections through copying the correction results. This approach maintains processing thoroughness by ensuring all sections receive appropriate corrections while dramatically improving productivity by avoiding redundant processing of identical sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the processing operations for duplicate sections by identifying them as equivalents and applying a single set of OPC corrections to all duplicates. Instead of executing separate processing workflows for each duplicate section, the system combines them into a single processing operation that produces results for all duplicates simultaneously, thereby maintaining thoroughness while increasing overall productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A computing system may include a circuit design access engine configured to access a circuit design. The computing system may also include a duplicate section processing engine configured to partition the circuit design into multiple circuit sections and determine, from among the multiple circuit sections, an identical section set based on duplicate criteria. Circuit sections of the identical section set may satisfy the duplicate criteria with respect to one another. The duplicate section processing engine may further be configured to perform an OPC processing operation on a selected circuit section of the identical section set and apply an OPC result of the performed OPC processing operation for other circuit sections of the identical section set instead of or without performing the OPC processing operation on the other circuit sections of the identical section set.