Freescale Semiconductor,inc.

Qualcomm Incorporated

Solido Design Automation Inc.

Patrick Drennan

Douglas Alan Garrity

Michael McGowan

David R LoCascio

James F McClellan

Mehdi Saeidi

Arpit Mittal

Alvin Leng Sun Loke

Joel Cooper

Jeffrey Dyck

Samer Sallam

Cynthia L Recker

Ryan Silk

Trent Lome McConaghy

Metal thermal grounds are used for dissipating heat from integrated-circuit resistors. The resistors may be formed using a front end of line layer, for example, a titanium-nitride layer. A metal region (e.g., in a first metal layer) is located over the resistors to form a heat sink. An area of thermal posts connected to the metal region is also located over the resistor. The metal region can be connected to the substrate of the integrated circuit to provide a low impedance thermal path out of the integrated circuit.

Thermal metal ground for integrated circuit resistors

A method for proximity-aware circuit design where a set of layout constraint values that satisfy predetermined performance or yield goals is determined in accordance with a layout effect model. One of the layout constraint values is then selected as a constraint input to layout design, and a design layout is performed with the selected layout constraint value to provide a semiconductor circuit design for the semiconductor circuit. The set of layout constraint values can be determined by varying an instance parameter of the layout effect model to determine a set of instance parameters that satisfy the at least one predetermined performance or yield goal in accordance with the layout effect model, and determining layout constraints associated with each instance parameter of the set of instance parameters, thus providing a number of candidates in a design space that can be evaluated according to performance and/or yield tradeoffs.

Method and system for proximity-aware circuit design

The present invention provides a method for tiling an integrated circuit having a critically matched device such as a transistor. The method obtains an advantage of automatically improving metallic density over critically matched devices thus yielding improved CMP. The method may include the steps of: identifying critically matched devices in the integrated circuit; placing metal tiles over the critically matched device; performing a density test around each critically matched device; and if a density test is not satisfied around a critically matched device, placing at least one metal strip over a critically matched device.

Method of tiling analog circuits

A method for placing tiles in an integrated circuit has matched devices that includes the steps of (1) calculating a metal spacing for tiles to be placed adjacent to the matched device in the integrated circuit; (2) calculating a lateral spacing for tiles to be placed adjacent to the matched device in the integrated circuit; (3) placing tiles about the matched device based on the metal spacing and the lateral spacing; (4) performing a density test in an area around the matched device; and (5) if a density test is not satisfied in the area around the matched device, dividing the matched device into at least two subdevices and repeating, with respect to each subdevice, the steps of calculating a metal spacing, calculating a lateral spacing, and placing tiles about each subdevice. The method is further adaptable to various kinds of matched devices including poly resistors, diffused resistors, double-poly capacitors, metal-insulator-metal capacitors, and fringe capacitors.

Method of tiling analog circuits that include resistors and capacitors

A mismatch modeling tool () comprises a software implemented mismatch model (). The software implemented mismatch model () accesses: at least one editable mismatch model data library () comprising process parameter variables, and circuit simulation library and program () data output. An interface screen () provides input and output coupling between a user and the software implemented mismatch model ().

Mismatch modeling tool

In one embodiment, a method () is provided for improving switched capacitor performance by lowering a mismatch constraint to be equal to, or nearly equal to, a noise constraint. The mismatch constraint is lowered by increasing a finger spacing of a fringe capacitor design () while maintaining the same surface area covered by the fringe capacitor design (). In another embodiment, a noise constraint is lowered by decreasing finger spacing. Lowering the noise constraint by decreasing finger spacing reduces the area of a fringe capacitor used in, for example, an analog-to-digital converter. Both embodiments may improve performance of the analog-to-digital converter by lowering power consumption, increasing speed, or both.

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Gilbert, AZ, United States of America

Patrick Drennan