International Business Machines Corporation

Randall J Darden

Shyam Ramji

Christopher J Berry

Sourav Saha

Eddy St Juste

Ajith Kumar M Chandrasekaran

Matthew D Affeldt

Timothy A Schell

Joseph J Palumbo

Adam R Jatkowski

A system and a computer implemented method for interior pinning in a macro block of an integrated circuit are provided. The method includes receiving child level information of the macro block including at least a location of a logic leaflet, receiving parent level information including at least edge direction information for pin connection and routing resource values of each slot of the macro block at each metal layer, and selecting a pin location based on the child level information and the parent level information.

Hierarchically aware interior pinning for large synthesis blocks

A computer-implemented method of performing physical synthesis in a chip design process using hierarchical wire-pin co-optimization, a system, and a computer program product are described. Aspects include providing an indication of candidate pins among a plurality of pins of a plurality of macros that may be moved, and providing constraints on a range of movement of one or more of the plurality of pins. Aspects also include performing macro-level physical synthesis at each of the plurality of macros based on the candidate pins and the constraints to generate pin locations and timing results.

Constraint-driven pin optimization for hierarchical design convergence

A method and system to perform physical synthesis in a chip design process using hierarchical wire-pin co-optimization are described. The method includes providing boundary conditions to each of a plurality of macros of the chip design from a unit level controller, the boundary conditions including initial pin locations and an indication of which of the pins are movable pins for each of the plurality of macros, performing macro-level physical synthesis at each of the plurality of macros, and providing feedback to the unit level controller based on the macro-level physical synthesis performed at each of the plurality of macros, the feedback including a proposed new location for the movable pins of each of the plurality of blocks. The method also includes performing hierarchical co-optimization at the unit level controller based on the feedback from each of the plurality of macros to determine locations for the movable pins.

Hierarchical wire-pin co-optimization

Embodiments of the disclosure relate to methods for facilitating the design of an integrated circuit (IC) using thermally aware pin assignment and device placement. The method includes creating a layout for the IC, the layout including a plurality of macros each having devices and pin assignments and revising the layout for the IC by repositioning a macro or a device to meet a timing requirement of the IC. The method also includes creating a thermal map of the IC based on the layout for the IC and a workload model for the IC and identifying at least one thermally critical pin assignment based on the thermal map of the IC. The method includes revising the layout by repositioning a thermally critical pin assignment and a device.

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Ridgedale, MO, United States of America

Randall J Darden