Broadcom Corporation

Neal Fitzhenry

Simon Christopher Dequin Clemow

Peter William Hughes

Paul Andrew Freeman

A method for designing multi-layer electronic circuits includes defining a plurality of circuit blocks in terms of physical boundaries, the plurality of circuit blocks including a first circuit block with at least one port for connecting to a portion of inter-block routing having conducting material external to the first circuit block. The method further provides protective routing for the at least one port of the first circuit block in a region between the block and the inter-block routing, wherein circuitry within the first circuit connected to the at least one port is not in-circuit with the conducting material of the inter-block routing during processing steps involving the conducting material. The protective routing is a conducting layer which is higher in the multi-layer structure than the highest conducting layer used for routing the net containing the at least one port for inter-block routing. The protective routing also bridges the at least one port to inter-block routing connected to the net in a halo region. Software and/or a computer program product that can be used for multi-layer circuit design is also described.

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Bristol, United Kingdom

Neal Fitzhenry