Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Aveek Sarkar

Peter F Lai

Rambabu Pyapali

Shyam Sundar

Yongning Sheng

Shian-Jiun Fu

Teong Ming Cheah

The timing response of a circuit path is predicted by modeling the circuit path using two different timing models. The variation between the timing responses produced by each of the timing models is used to generate a correction factor, which is then applied to one of the timing models. Once the correction factor has been applied to a timing model, the model is used to produce a corrected timing prediction for the modeled circuit path.

Method and software for predicting the timing delay of a circuit path using two different timing models

The capacitances of one or more inputs/outputs of a circuit are estimated by using an extraction tool () to extract information associated with the inputs/outputs from a netlist. The information includes information associated with circuit devices directly connected to the inputs/outputs, particularly information related to device connectivity and the feature sizes of the device. Once the information is extracted, a capacitance determination element () aggregates the feature sizes of all the circuit devices connected to each respective input or output, to obtain aggregate feature sizes for each respective input/output. The aggregate feature size is used in determining the total capacitance of the input/output. The total capacitance thus determined can be provided to a timing analysis tool (), which uses the total capacitance of each input or output to generate a timing model for the circuit.

Estimating capacitances using information including feature sizes extracted from a netlist

The present invention describes a method and an apparatus for determining switching power consumption of global devices (e.g., repeaters, flops or the like) in an integrated circuit design during high-level design phase after the global routing for the integrated circuit is available. The clock cycle is divided into various timing intervals and the timing reports are generated for each cycle to determine a time-domain staggered distribution of each device's switching activity within a given timing interval. Each device's switching activity is analyzed within the given timing interval (or segment thereof). The power consumption is determined for each device that switches in the given timing interval.

Method and apparatus for power consumption analysis in global nets

The present application describes various embodiments of a method and an apparatus for determining electromigration risks for signal nets in integrated circuits. A model for each one of the global nets connecting various circuit blocks in an integrated circuit is created using circuit blocks' timing model and detailed standard parasitic format representation (DSPF) of each global net. The final layout of the integrated circuit is not necessary to determine the electromigration risks. The models can be generated during the early stages of the design cycle once the DSPF of the global nets is available.

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Mountain View, CA, United States of America

Aveek Sarkar