High Current Interconnect Routing via Virtual Nodes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional routers fail to effectively implement additional connectivity in modern electronic designs, particularly at 14-nm or smaller advanced nodes, due to insufficient routing resources and the introduction of Steiner points, which disrupt original connectivity and do not adequately address design rule violations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that identify regions and seeding segments in electronic designs to generate additional routes without disturbing normal connectivity, using additional nodes and iterators to manage and maintain separate connectivity, allowing for redundant connections and routes that do not alter the original connectivity, and incorporating design rules to ensure compliance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional routers introduce Steiner points to solve rectilinear minimum spanning tree problems, then routing connectivity is achieved, but the original connectivity is disturbed and design rule violations occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the routing problem into two independent parts: normal connectivity (handled by conventional routers with Steiner points) and additional connectivity (handled by the new router using virtual nodes). This segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently without interfering with the other, resolving the contradiction between achieving connectivity and avoiding connectivity disturbance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces virtual nodes as intermediaries to establish additional connectivity without disturbing the original connectivity. These virtual nodes act as mediators that enable redundant routing paths while leaving the original Steiner point-based connectivity intact, thus solving the contradiction between adding connectivity and avoiding harm.
2Reliability
If conventional routers add redundant connections with additional Steiner points, then routing robustness is improved, but routing resources are insufficient at 14-nm or smaller advanced nodes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from physical Steiner points in the traditional routing dimension to virtual nodes in an additional logical dimension. This dimensionality change allows redundant connections to be established without consuming additional physical routing resources, enabling routing robustness improvement at advanced nodes where physical resources are constrained.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies of connectivity paths through virtual nodes instead of creating additional physical routing structures. This copying approach provides redundant routing paths for improved robustness without requiring additional physical routing resources, resolving the contradiction between reliability and resource quantity.
3Manufacturing precision
If remastering techniques are used to reduce feature sizes on lithography, then routing density is increased, but the intended purposes are not achieved in 14-nm or smaller advanced nodes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of connectivity representation from physical Steiner points to virtual nodes. This parameter change allows the system to achieve additional connectivity without relying on reducing feature sizes through remastering, thereby maintaining routing effectiveness at 14-nm or smaller advanced nodes where remastering fails.
4Device complexity
If conventional routers implement single wire connections, then device complexity is reduced, but high current carrying capability is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the virtual node mechanism universally applicable to different routing scenarios, including high current carrying requirements. The same virtual node infrastructure that provides additional connectivity also enables multi-strand connections for high current, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and current carrying capability through a unified approach.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments implement additional connectivity for electronic designs by identifying one or more regions for a route in normal connectivity of an electronic design, identifying a plurality of seeding segments from the route based at least in part upon the one or more regions, identifying a plurality of additional nodes in the plurality of seeding segments, and generating one or more additional routes connecting the plurality of additional nodes in the plurality of seeding segments. The one or more additional routes are generated without disturbing the normal connectivity including a plurality of Steiner points and the route. Additional nodes differ from Steiner points and are used to implement additional routes that belong to a different route type.