Root-Cause Cell Relocation for IR Drop Design Rule Violations
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Solution Overview
Problem
The miniaturization of integrated circuits leads to stricter design and manufacturing specifications, with electronic design automation (EDA) tools facing challenges in managing design rule violations due to IR drops, which are not effectively addressed by existing methods.
Innovation Solution
An EDA program identifies violated cells, classifies root causes, and automatically moves cells to safe regions or keep-out areas to mitigate IR drop issues by determining a searching area and selecting cells based on root cause classes, such as resistivity, cluster, self-induced, and disturbed classes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If integrated circuits are miniaturized to provide more functionality at higher speeds, then device functionality and speed are improved, but design rule violations due to IR drops increase
Solution Approach 1:
The EDA program performs preliminary classification of violated cells into root cause classes (resistivity, cluster, self-induced, disturbed) before attempting corrections. This preliminary analysis allows the system to identify IR drop issues early in the design phase and apply targeted mitigation strategies before manufacturing, resolving the contradiction by preventing design rule violations rather than reacting to them after miniaturization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different correction strategies based on the specific root cause class of each violated cell. Rather than using a uniform approach, the EDA program tailors its response to local conditions - applying specific mitigation techniques for resistivity issues versus cluster issues versus self-induced issues. This localized quality control enables effective management of IR drops in miniaturized circuits while maintaining overall design compliance.
2Ease of manufacture
If existing EDA methods are used to manage layout designs, then basic design verification is performed, but design rule violations due to IR drops are not effectively addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The EDA program performs self-service by automatically identifying violated cells, classifying their root causes, and generating correction suggestions without requiring manual intervention. The system serves itself by detecting its own design rule violations and autonomously working to resolve them through systematic classification and mitigation, thereby improving both ease of manufacture and manufacturing precision simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the layout design for IR drop violations, classifying the root causes, and applying corrections. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures that design rule compliance is maintained throughout the design process, transforming the EDA tool from a passive verification system into an active compliance assurance system that effectively addresses IR drop issues in miniaturized circuits.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes identifying a cell in the layout diagram as a violated cell that fails to pass one or more design rules related to IR drops, and classifying a root cause of the violated cell with a root cause class. The method also includes determining a searching area for searching safe region candidates, and finding a selected cell for moving based upon the root cause class of the root cause. The method further includes finding a safe region in the searching area for moving the selected cell, and moving the selected cell to the safe region if the safe region is found within the searching area.