International Business Machines Corporation

Alexander Albert Woerner

Tobias Werner

Ulrich Krauch

Wilhelm Ernst Haller

Raphael C Polig

Kurt Lind

Dieter F Wendel

Juergen Pille

Harry S Barowski

Juergen Koehl

Silke Penth

Friedrich Schroeder

Martin Padeffke

Joachim Fenkes

Stefan Bonsels

Juerge Pilk

Helmut Zudrell

Anthony Parent

Harold Mielich

Urich Kranch

An improved method for fixing an early mode slack in a hierarchically designed hardware device with at least one source macro, an integration unit and at least one sink macro comprises: Loading hardware design timing data to determine pins where an early mode slack fix can be applied to fix an early mode slack; for each such pin determining a location across the design hierarchy for the early mode slack fix by calculating a weight value for each of a selection of fix locations of the early mode slack based on absolute values of arrival times of data signals, ratio and difference between arrival times of late mode data signals and early mode data signals; and assigning the early mode slack fix to the determined location based on said weight value.

Method and system to fix early mode slacks in a circuit design

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention disclose a method and system for substituting a group of memory cells for a defective group of memory cells in a memory. In a step, an exemplary embodiment replaces a signal path to a group of defective memory cells with a signal path to a redundant group of memory cells. In another step, an exemplary embodiment isolates the signal path to the redundant group of memory cells from a load imposed by the signal path to the replaced group of defective memory cells.

Defective memory column replacement with load isolation

A method and a system for generating a placement layout is disclosed. The method includes receiving one or more user provided schematic with circuit data, placement parameters of circuit elements, default values, and user specified function calls and variables for calculating placement parameters; evaluating variables and function calls to discrete placement parameters; evaluating justification values and adjusting relative parameter values; calculating absolute placement coordinates for all cells from relative placement parameters for each instance; adjusting placement coordinates for alignment options; and generating a layout/hierarchical layout with placement circuit elements based on the calculated absolute placement coordinates.

Method and system for generating a placement layout of a VLSI circuit design

A computer-readable storage storing instructions for a processor. Execution of the instructions causes loading unit timing data descriptive of an upper hierarchy. Execution of the instructions cause the loading of a unit timing path, and the loading of macro timing data into the memory. Execution of the instructions further cause the replacement of at least a portion of the unit timing report with the macro timing data, and computation of arrival times, slacks, and slews. Execution of the instructions also cause computation of path statistics in accordance with the arrival times, slacks and slews, and generation of a end point report for the unit timing path, including path statistics.

Generation of an end point report for a timing simulation of an integrated circuit

Multistage synthesis of hardware function operation descriptions is provided, which facilitates placement of logic cells in an integrated circuit design layout, and includes: parsing hardware function operation descriptions of a circuit to identify multiple instantiations of a type of logic function; performing, without shape restriction, a first synthesis on each logic function type identified as having multiple instantiations and producing an irregular-shaped logic unit layout for that logic function type; establishing an irregular-shaped blocking mask corresponding to a respective irregular-shaped logic unit layout produced by the first synthesis; creating a partial circuit layout by placing each irregular-shaped blocking mask multiple times corresponding to the multiple instantiations of the respective logic function type; and performing, employing the partial circuit layout, a second synthesis on the balance of the hardware function operation descriptions of the circuit outside the multiple instantiations of the logic function type.

Multistage, hybrid synthesis processing facilitating integrated circuit layout

A method for configuring a n-way XOR/XNOR circuit comprises providing a plurality of top stacks of PFETs each including at least three PFETs electrically connected between a high logic level and an output logic connection, providing a plurality of bottom stacks of NFETs each including at least three NFETs electrically connected between a low logic level and the output logic connection, connecting a source or a drain of the outermost PFET in each top stack to a source or a drain of a corresponding NFET in each bottom stack to generate inverted logic signals, inputting at least three input logic states to the stacks of PFETs to selectively connect or disconnect the output logic connection to the high logic level, inputting at least three input logic states to the stacks of NFETs to selectively connect or disconnect the output logic connection to the low logic level, and outputting a logic signal from the output logic connection.

Topology for a n-way XOR/XNOR circuit

A method implemented as a computer program product for comparing two designs of electronic circuits, wherein the design representations comprise several hierarchically related sheets. The method comprises the steps of (a) identifying corresponding top-sheets of the first hierarchy level in the design versions; (b) generating a list of all sub-sheets for each top-sheet and comparing the lists to identify added, removed and common sheets of the corresponding top-sheets; (c) defining the common sheets as corresponding top-sheets of a next hierarchy level; and (d) repeating steps (a)-(c) until at least one of the top-sheets does not comprise any sub-sheet.

Method for comparing two designs of electronic circuits

The present invention relates to creating a layout of an electronic circuit from a netlist of interconnected components, wherein the components can be represented by planar geometric shapes in the layout. The advantages of the present invention are achieved by tightly coupling placement and routing. An initial placement of shapes of extended size is succeeded by a routing step that tries to create wires between shapes of reduced size. If that fails, it is tried to wire shapes of extended size instead. The wiring can be combined with a delta-placement of shapes within shapes of extended size such that wires connected to shapes of extended size also connect to the shapes.

Method for creating a layout for an electronic circuit

According to the present invention an automated method is provided for routing and designing an LSI (Large Scale Integrated Circuit). First, at least one generic of an instance of a book to be connected is located on the chip, wherein a generic of an instance is an area defined according to the measurements of said instance. Then, an initial route to said instance is generated by optimizing the route to the corresponding generic according to given design rules. Thereby, an optimized pin location is determined for said instance. Then, on the basis of said optimized pin location a layout for said instance is generated in place of the corresponding generic. Finally, the actually generated pin is connected with the corresponding end of the initial route.

Automatic method for routing and designing an LSI

A method, program product and computer system for hardware design and simulation thereof. In particular, the schematic description of a respective hardware macro is analyzed during the design of macros, and arrays. A path is traced in the schematic of said macro from a start point to an end point along a given hierarchy, collecting the relevant information of each cell found in the schematic being relevant for timing analysis of the macro, resolving the hierarchy structure of cells in the schematic in order to gain information about the selected path, and outputting information in a form which allows comparing, for example, a representation to be used for exact timing verification, a so called cross-section, with the macro schematic.

Growing community of inventors

Waiblingen, Germany

Alexander Albert Woerner