Power Grid Healing for IC Floorplans
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated circuit designs face challenges in adequately supplying power to all areas of the floorplan due to obstructions, which can lead to inadequate power supply and inefficiencies in power grid distribution, affecting both power and area goals.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of power grid healing techniques that analyze and modify the power grid layout by inserting additional power straps in specific sub-regions to ensure consistent power supply, aligning with user-defined parameters and existing power straps, thereby addressing power integrity and electromigration issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the repeating power grid pattern is used, then power distribution is simplified and manufacturing is easier, but obstructions block power access to standard cell areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the standard cell area into multiple sub-regions and introduces separate healing power straps for each sub-region. This allows power to be delivered to each segment independently, bypassing the blocking obstructions while maintaining the overall repeating pattern structure for manufacturing simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by adding healing power straps specifically to sub-regions that are blocked by obstructions, rather than modifying the entire power grid. This targeted approach maintains power supply adequacy in affected areas while preserving the efficient repeating pattern in unblocked areas.
2Reliability
If more power nets are inserted to meet IR drop requirements, then power supply adequacy is improved, but more resources are blocked for signal routing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces healing power straps as intermediary elements that connect existing power nets to standard cell areas blocked by obstructions. These healing straps act as mediators to deliver power around obstructions without requiring additional power nets throughout the entire design, thus avoiding signal routing resource conflicts.
3Reliability
If obstructions are moved from ideal positions to ensure adequate power, then power supply adequacy is improved, but floorplan efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the power delivery function from the main repeating power grid pattern and implements it separately through healing power straps in blocked sub-regions. This allows obstructions to remain in their ideal floorplan positions for productivity while the extracted healing straps provide the necessary power delivery to affected areas.
4Reliability
If power straps are added to heal blocked areas, then power integrity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the standard cell area into sub-regions and adds healing power straps only to those sub-regions blocked by obstructions. This selective segmentation approach improves power integrity in affected areas while minimizing the total number of healing straps required, thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Various implementations described herein are directed to an apparatus. The apparatus may include a region identifier module that receives a floorplan of an integrated circuit, identifies a standard cell region between already placed functional blocks of the floorplan, and sub-divides the standard cell region into multiple sub-regions. The apparatus may include a region analyzer module that analyzes each sub-region of the multiple sub-regions to determine a number of already placed power straps that exist within a boundary of each sub-region. The apparatus may include a strap placement module that inserts one or more additional power straps in each sub-region based on user defined parameters for each sub-region, if it is determined that the number of already placed power straps is inconsistent with the user defined parameters for each sub-region.