Physical design automation system and process for designing integrated

Abstract

A computer implemented method for generating and placing clusters of cells for integrated circuit design includes providing a netlist including cells, and nets of wires interconnecting the cells. A metric is specified for measuring distance between cells as a function of netlist interconnections. A length of a net is the number of cells interconnected by said net minus one, and a distance between two cells is a sum of lengths of nets that provide a shortest path between the cells. A maximum cluster size criterion, such as maximum distance of a cell from the center of a cluster, is specified to provide a desired amount of overlap between clusters. Clusters of cells are generated, each cluster being generated by designating one of the cells as the center, processing the netlist using the metric to determine distances of cells from the center, and assigning cells having progressively increasing distances from the center to the cluster until the maximum cluster size criterion is reached. Affinities between pairs of clusters are calculated, and the clusters are placed using force directed placement or other methodology based on the affinities.