Row Template Placement for Electronic Design Automation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional placement tools for integrated circuit designs face challenges in efficiently arranging devices with different heights and orientations, requiring extensive computational resources and manual efforts, and often result in illegal placement layouts due to alignment and positioning violations, especially in advanced technology nodes with limited legal track patterns.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of row templates in electronic design automation, which allows for the creation and customization of row regions and templates to guide the placement of circuit components, ensuring legal orientations and alignments, thereby reducing computational waste and improving placement efficiency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If conventional placement tools are used to arrange devices with different heights and orientations, then placement flexibility is improved, but computational resources and manual efforts are excessively consumed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplacement flexibilityVSAvoidcomputational efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The placement region is divided into multiple row regions, each containing devices of the same height. This segmentation allows the placement tool to handle devices with different heights systematically by processing each row separately, reducing the overall computational complexity while maintaining flexibility in device arrangement

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The method performs preliminary actions by first identifying and separating devices into row regions based on height, determining legal track patterns in advance, and establishing placement constraints before actual placement. This preliminary organization reduces the computational burden during the placement execution phase

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If conventional placement tools are used to arrange devices with different heights and orientations, then placement flexibility is improved, but manual arrangement efforts are excessively consumed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplacement flexibilityVSAvoidmanual arrangement effort

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

By automatically segmenting devices into row regions based on height, the system eliminates the need for manual grouping and arrangement of devices with different heights, significantly reducing manual effort while preserving placement flexibility

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The placement tool automatically performs row region identification, device grouping, and pattern validation without requiring manual intervention. The system serves itself by autonomously handling the complex arrangements of devices with varying heights and orientations

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If intensive computational processing is performed to fix placement violations, then placement legality is improved, but computational resources are wasted

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplacement legalityVSAvoidcomputational resource waste

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The method determines legal track patterns and placement constraints in advance, before actual device placement. By pre-establishing what constitutes a legal placement pattern, the system avoids intensive computational processing during placement execution, reducing energy waste while ensuring placement legality

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where placement violations are detected and corrected through iterative processing of row regions. The feedback loop allows the placement tool to learn from previous placement attempts and adjust subsequent placements to avoid violations, reducing the need for intensive reprocessing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

4Manufacturing precision

If repeated patterns are processed individually with conventional approaches, then placement accuracy is improved, but computational resources are excessively consumed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplacement accuracyVSAvoidcomputational efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The method merges identical or similar row regions into templates that can be reused across multiple placement locations. By combining repeated patterns into a single definable unit, the system maintains high placement accuracy for each instance while significantly reducing computational resources through template reuse rather than individual processing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS10402530B1Method, system, and computer program product for implementing placement using row templates for an electronic design

Publication Date: 2019.09.03 CADENCE DESIGN SYST INC

AI summary

Disclosed are techniques for implementing placement using row templates for an electronic design using row templates. These techniques identify or create a row region in a layout of an electronic design. A row template is applied to the row region to create one or more placement rows in the row region. One or more layout circuit components may then be placed into one or more rows or at one or more locations to create a legal placement layout by guiding placement of the one or more layout circuit components with the row template.