Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Comp. Ltd.

Sung-Yen Yeh

Chung-Hsing Wang

Li-Chung Hsu

Jerry Chang-Jui Kao

Li Chung Hsu

Ravi Babu Pittu

Yen-Pin Chen

Hui-Zhong Zhuang

Jung-Chan Yang

Yung-Chen Chien

Tzu-Ying Lin

Zhe-Wei Jiang

Jerry Chang Jui Kao

King-Ho Tam

Yuan-Te Hou

Tai-Yu Cheng

Yeh-Chi Chang

An integrated circuit is provided and includes first transistors of a first circuit arranged in a first cell row having a first number of fin structures and a second transistor of a second circuit. The second transistor is coupled in parallel with a first element in the first transistors between first and second terminals of the first circuit, and arranged in a second cell row having a second number, different from the first number, of fin structures. The first element and the second transistor share a first gate extending in a first direction to pass through the first and second cell rows in a layout view. The second transistor is a duplication of the first element.

Integrated circuit in hybrid row height structure

A method performed by at least one processor includes the following steps: generating a layout of an integrated circuit (IC), the layout comprising a cell and a layout context in a vicinity of the cell; receiving from a library a set of context groups and a set of timing tables, wherein each of the context groups is associated with one of the set of timing tables; determining a representative context group for the cell through comparing the layout context of the cell with the set of context groups; and performing a timing analysis on the layout according to a representative timing table associated with the representative context group for the cell.

Layout context-based cell timing characterization

Systems and methods for context aware circuit design are described herein. A method includes: identifying at least one cell to be designed into a circuit; identifying at least one context parameter having an impact to layout dependent effect of the circuit; generating, for each cell and for each context parameter, a plurality of abutment environments associated with the cell; estimating, for each cell and each context parameter, a sensitivity of at least one electrical property of the cell to the context parameter by generating a plurality of electrical property values of the cell under the plurality of abutment environments; and determining whether each context parameter is a key context parameter for a static analysis of the circuit, based on the sensitivity of the at least one electrical property of each cell and based on at least one predetermined threshold.

Systems and methods for context aware circuit design

A semiconductor device includes several first cell row an several second cell rows. The first cell rows extend in a first direction. Each of the first cell rows has a first row height. A first row of the first cell rows is configured for a first cell to be arranged. The second cell rows extend in the first direction. Each of the second cell rows has a second row height that is different from the first row height. At least one row of the second cell rows includes a portion for at least one second cell to be arranged. The portion has a third row height that is different from the first row height and the second row height.

Semiconductor device and integrated circuit in hybrid row height structure

A system includes a non-transitory storage medium encoded with a set of instructions and a processor. The processor is configured to execute the set of instructions. The set of instructions is configured to cause the processor to: obtain, based on a netlist of a circuit, values each corresponding to one of transistors included in the circuit; compare the values with a threshold value; in response to a comparison, generate an adjusted netlist of the circuit by adding redundant transistors; and determine, based on the adjusted netlist, one of layout configurations for the circuit. The layout configurations include first cell rows each having a first row height and second cell rows each having a second row height different from the first row height.

A method and system for manufacturing a circuit is disclosed. In some embodiments, the system includes: at least one processor configured to: generate a first timing library for a first set of circuit elements for a first set of input parameters based on device characteristics for each of the circuit elements in the first set of circuit elements, and storing the determined device characteristics in a database; and generating a second timing library for a second set of circuit elements for a second set of input parameters based on device characteristics previously stored in the database for a first subset of the second set of circuit elements and determining device characteristics for a second subset of the second set of circuit elements using one of an aging simulation or a stress simulation; and a circuit generation system, coupled to the at least one processor, the circuit generation system configured to form a circuit on a substrate, wherein the circuit includes at least one of the first set of circuit elements or the second set of circuit elements.

Circuit testing and manufacture using multiple timing libraries

A method performed by at least one processor includes the following steps. A layout of an integrated circuit (IC) is accessed, wherein the layout has at least one cell. A context group for the cell is determined based on a layout context of the cell, wherein the context group is associated with a timing table. A timing analysis is performed on the layout to determine whether the layout complies with a timing constraint rule according to the timing table. A system including one or more processors including instructions for implementing the method and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions for implementing the method are also provided.

A semiconductor device includes several first cell rows extending in a first direction, each of the first cell rows having a first row height; several second cell rows extending in the first direction, each of the second cell rows having a second row height smaller than the first row height, wherein the first cell rows and the second cell rows are interlaced; a first cell arranged in a first row of the first cell rows; and at least one second cell arranged in at least one row of the second cell rows, wherein the at least one second cell abuts the first cell in a second direction different from the first direction, wherein the at least one second cell and at least one circuit component included in the first cell have the same operation configuration.

A method includes: identifying a timing path of a logic circuit; determining a Boolean expression at an internal node in the timing path; providing a DC vector having a plurality of forms; determining a Boolean value at the internal node for each of the forms based on the Boolean expression; determining a quantity of stressed transistors in the timing path for each of the forms separately based on the respective Boolean value; and determining a best-case form, associated with an aging effect of the logic circuit, and a worst-case form, associated with the aging effect, out of the forms based on the quantities of stressed transistors.

Method of determining a worst case in timing analysis

A method includes identifying a timing path in a transistor level from a graph diagram; calculating a plurality of aging costs associated with the timing path based on a plurality of forms of a DC vector; identifying a first form, associated with a first aging cost of the aging costs, from the forms; and identifying a second form, associated with a second aging cost less than the first aging cost, from the forms.

Method of determing a worst case in timing analysis

A method for manufacturing an integrated circuit includes determining a static probability pattern of a circuit cell in a timing path of the integrated circuit; determining a timing delay of the circuit cell along the timing path according to the static probability pattern and a pattern based timing database, wherein the pattern based timing database indicates a plurality of reference delays of each timing arc of the circuit cell characterized in response to a plurality of input stress patterns respectively; and manufacturing the integrated circuit according to the timing delay of the circuit cell along the timing path.

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Pingtung County, Taiwan

Sung-Yen Yeh