The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 20, 2013
Filed:
Jan. 08, 2008
Benjamin J. Bowers, Cary, NC (US);
Anthony Correale, Raleigh, NC (US);
Benjamin J. Bowers, Cary, NC (US);
Anthony Correale, Raleigh, NC (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Methods, systems, and media to improve the manufacturability of cells and structures within cells of an integrated circuit are disclosed. Embodiments comprise a method of arranging programmable cells, routing the programmable cells, analyzing the cell arrangement and interconnect wiring for manufacturing improvement opportunities, and modifying the programmable cell structures to incorporate the manufacturing improvements. In some embodiments, wires are spread to prevent shorting. In other embodiments, the reliability of contacts and vias is improved by adding additional metallization to the areas surrounding the contacts and vias, or by adding redundant contacts and vias. In one embodiment, a series of manufacturing improvements are made to integrated circuit cells in an iterative fashion.