Automated Attribute Propagation for IC Hierarchy Consistency
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated techniques for integrated circuit design fail to detect hardware defects, such as analog signal wires passing through digital buffers, which require labor-intensive manual review and are prone to errors.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of automated attribute propagation and hierarchical consistency checking using a processor to detect non-standard extensions, propagate the 'No Buffer' attribute across hierarchies, and verify consistency, preventing digital buffers from being added to analog signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual review is performed to detect hardware defects, then detection capability is improved, but time consumption and error rate increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated self-detection of hardware defects by propagating attribute information through the design hierarchy. The checking tool automatically verifies constraints without requiring manual intervention, allowing the system to detect defects in analog signal wires passing through digital buffers through self-verification mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback loops where attribute propagation results are verified against design constraints. The checking tool provides automated feedback on constraint violations, enabling continuous improvement of defect detection accuracy while reducing manual review requirements.
2Productivity
If automated checking techniques are used, then productivity is improved, but detection precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary attribute propagation during the convergence phase of integrated circuit logic design. By pre-propagating nonstandard extension attributes and verifying constraints before final design completion, the system ensures both high productivity and precise defect detection without requiring post-processing manual review.
3Reliability
If attribute propagation is performed across all hierarchy levels, then consistency verification is improved, but computational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the attribute propagation process by targeting only those hierarchy levels where nets utilize special constraints. Rather than propagating attributes uniformly across all hierarchy levels, the checking tool identifies and processes only the relevant segments, reducing computational complexity while maintaining consistency verification accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples of techniques for automated attribute propagation and hierarchical consistency checking are disclosed. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method may include: detecting, by a processor, a non-standard extension during convergence of an integrated circuit logic design; propagating, by the processor, the non-standard extension to each level of a plurality of hierarchies of the integrated circuit design for which a net utilizes a special constraint; and verifying, by the processor, a hierarchy consistency across each level of the plurality of hierarchies.