Optimizing placement of circuit resources using a globally accessible placement memory

• US 10,210,297 B2
• Filed: 12/07/2016
• Issued: 02/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hathaway, David J., Hieter, Nathaniel D., Ramji, Shyam, Suess, Alexander J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Levin, Naum B
• Application Number:
  US15/371,238
• Publication Number:
  US 20170083641A1
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/02 CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/327 Logic synthesis; Behaviour synthesis, e.g. mapping logic, HDL to netlist, high-level language to RTL or netlist
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/33 Design verification, e.g. functional simulation or model checking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/392 Floor-planning or layout, e.g. partitioning or placement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/398 Design verification or optimisation, e.g. using design rule check [DRC], layout versus schematics [LVS] or finite element methods [FEM] optical proximity correction [OPC] design processes G03F1/36

Abstract

A method, executed by one or more processors, for optimizing placement of a logic network, includes partitioning a logic network into a set of logic partitions, launching a set of placement optimization threads that correspond to the logic partitions, and allocating memory that is accessible to the placement optimization threads to provide a globally accessible placement memory for reserving placement locations on the integrated circuit. Each placement optimization thread may be configured to conduct the operations of determining a desired location for a logic element, reserving a set of potential locations for the logic element, determining a best location from the set of potential locations, and placing the logic element to the best location. Each placement optimization thread may also be configured to release each of the potential locations that are not the best location. A corresponding computer program product and computer system are also disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory machine readable storage device; and

computer code stored on the non-transitory machine readable storage device, with the computer code including instructions for causing a processor(s) set to perform operations including the following;

partitioning, by the processor(s) set, a logic network comprising a plurality of logic elements into a plurality of logic partitions;

launching, by the processor(s) set, a plurality of placement optimization threads that correspond to the plurality of logic partitions;

allocating, by the processor(s) set, memory that is accessible to the plurality of placement optimization threads to provide a globally accessible placement memory;

reserving, by the processor(s) set, a placement location for at least a portion of the plurality of logic elements via the globally accessible placement memory; and

wherein each placement optimization thread of the plurality of placement optimization threads is configured to conduct the operations of;

determining, by the processor(s) set, a desired location for a logic element of the plurality of logic elements, wherein the logic element is within a logic partition that corresponds to the placement optimization thread,

reserving, by the processor(s) set and via the globally accessible placement memory, a plurality of potential locations for the logic element that are proximate to the desired location,

determining, by the processor(s) set, a best location from the plurality of potential locations,

releasing, by the processor(s) set, each of the plurality of potential locations that are not the best location,

placing, by the processor(s) set, the logic element at the best location, and

wherein reserving a potential location comprises locking at least a portion of the globally accessible placement memory, inserting, by the processor(s) set, a thread identifier within at least one entry of an owning thread array stored within the globally accessible placement memory, inserting, by the processor(s) set, at least one bit within a reserved locations bitmap stored within the globally accessible placement memory, and unlocking, by the processor(s) set, the portion of the globally accessible placement memory that was locked to reserve the potential location.