Adaptive power routing and shield sharing to reduce shield count

Abstract

Described herein are two techniques referred to as “Adaptive Power Routing” and “Shield Sharing To Reduce Shield Count,” that allow power routing and signal routing to be integrated in a manner that provides more efficient and compact layout of design blocks as compared to traditional techniques. Adaptive power routing refers to completion of power routing to be postponed to the signal routing phase, at which time signal shielding requirements are also used to complete the power routing along with predefined power delivery constraints. Shield sharing optimization refers to the more efficient use of previously routed power lines and to the insertion of a reduced number of additional power lines so as to satisfy both shielding requirements and power supply requirements in a gridless environment. These two techniques allow routing in highly congested regions containing performance-critical and/or noise-sensitive signals to be manufactured using less die area than would be required with traditional routing methodologies and algorithms.