Visual Yield Analysis of IC Layouts
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated circuit designers face challenges in optimizing layouts to improve manufacturing yield, as existing EDA tools lack real-time visualization of yield analysis, making it difficult to make design choices that enhance yield during the design process.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that includes a yield analysis tool within EDA software, providing dynamic visualization of real-time yield analysis by overlaying different shades or opacity to reflect factors like wire spacing, width, congestion, and via cuts, allowing designers to interactively improve the layout during the design flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If real-time yield analysis visualization is implemented, then manufacturing yield can be improved, but computational complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The layout is divided into multiple tiles that can be processed independently and in parallel. Each tile represents a discrete region of the integrated circuit layout, allowing the yield analysis computational task to be segmented into smaller sub-tasks that can be executed simultaneously across multiple processing units, thereby reducing overall computational complexity while maintaining comprehensive yield analysis coverage
Solution Approach 2:
Yield analysis is performed during the interactive routing phase rather than after layout completion. By conducting yield analysis preliminarily during the design process, the system provides real-time feedback that guides design decisions, allowing yield optimization to occur incrementally as the layout is being created, which reduces the need for complex post-processing analysis
2Manufacturing precision
If real-time yield analysis is performed during interactive routing, then design decision quality improves, but processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The yield analysis system dynamically adjusts its operation based on user interaction. When the user moves wires or modifies the layout, the system recalculates yield metrics for affected regions and updates the visualization in real-time. This dynamic approach ensures that yield analysis is performed only when necessary (upon layout modification), maintaining processing speed while providing continuous yield optimization feedback during the interactive design process
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time visual feedback by overlaying yield analysis results directly on the layout display. Different shades or opacity levels indicate varying yield metrics, allowing designers to immediately see the impact of their routing decisions on manufacturing yield. This feedback mechanism enables iterative design improvements without requiring separate analysis steps, maintaining efficient workflow while enhancing yield optimization
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods to optimize a layout based on the yield analysis is disclosed. The method includes generating an integrated circuit layout having two or more layers of wire interconnect to form net segments and having one or more via contact layers to couple net segments in the wire interconnect together. The method further includes performing a yield analysis of the net segments in the integrated circuit layout and displaying the net segments with a visual depiction of the yield analysis using multiple levels of opacity to reflect yield scores of the net segments in the integrated circuit layout.