Integrated Circuit Routing Grid Alignment for Non-Integer Cell Heights
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of integrated circuit designs leads to challenges in aligning virtual grid lines with cell boundaries, resulting in potential design rule violations, increased inconsistency, and difficulty in pattern coloring due to non-integral multiples of the minimum pitch, which affects the efficiency and cost of the design and manufacturing processes.
Innovation Solution
Adjusting the spacings between virtual grid lines to ensure alignment with cell boundaries by using an arithmetic sequence of pitch options, allowing for symmetric interconnect patterns and reducing the number of possible arrangements to meet design rules, thereby aligning virtual grid lines with both the top and bottom boundaries of the cell.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If virtual grid lines are placed at regular intervals based on minimum pitch, then routing flexibility is improved, but alignment with cell boundaries deteriorates when cell height is a non-integral multiple of minimum pitch
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the virtual grid line spacing dynamic by introducing a determination module that selects different spacings based on the cell height parameter. When cell height is a non-integral multiple of minimum pitch, the system dynamically adjusts spacings to ensure alignment with cell boundaries while maintaining routing flexibility through arithmetic sequences of pitch options.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the spacing parameter of virtual grid lines from a fixed regular interval to variable intervals determined by arithmetic sequences. The determination module selects specific spacings from multiple pitch options based on cell height, transforming the static grid parameter into a conditional variable that adapts to different cell dimensions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple pitch options are provided for virtual grid line spacing, then adaptability to different cell heights is improved, but design complexity and inconsistency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-defining arithmetic sequences of pitch options and establishing determination rules before the actual layout design. The determination module uses these pre-established sequences and rules to automatically select appropriate spacings, eliminating the need for complex real-time calculations and reducing design inconsistency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent manages parameter complexity by organizing multiple pitch options into structured arithmetic sequences with defined common differences. This systematic parameter organization allows the determination module to select from multiple options while maintaining consistency through mathematical relationships, reducing design complexity compared to arbitrary pitch selections.
3Reliability
If virtual grid lines are adjusted to align with both top and bottom cell boundaries, then design rule compliance is improved, but the number of possible arrangements decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cell height into multiple intervals defined by virtual grid lines with different spacings. By dividing the cell height into segments that sum to the total height, the system ensures alignment with both boundaries while maintaining routing flexibility through the arithmetic sequence of pitch options, which provides multiple valid segmentation patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically determines the number and spacing of virtual grid lines based on cell height parameters. The determination module adjusts the grid configuration to ensure boundary alignment while maintaining adaptability through arithmetic sequences, allowing the system to find optimal arrangements that satisfy both design rules and routing requirements for different cell dimensions.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit includes adjusting a first spacing between an adjacent pair of routing tracks in a first set of routing tracks to be equal to a second spacing, adjusting a third spacing between an adjacent pair of routing tracks in a second set of routing tracks to be equal to a fourth spacing, placing a first and second pair of conductive patterns on the corresponding first and second set of routing tracks, forming a first set of conductive structures based on the first pair of conductive patterns, and a second set of conductive structures based on the second pair of conductive patterns. A first and second cell have a same cell height that is a non-integer multiple of a minimum pitch. One spacing of a first set of spacings is different from another spacing of the first set of spacings.