PARAMETER POPULATION OF CELLS OF A HIERARCHICAL SEMICONDUCTOR STRUCTURE VIA FILE RELATION

• US 20010044927A1
• Filed: 02/26/1998
• Published: 11/22/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: KARNIEWICZ, JOSEPH J.
• Granted Patent: US 6,922,659 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 716/17
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/30 Circuit design

Abstract

Parameter population of cells for a hierarchical semiconductor structure via file relation is disclosed. One aspect of the invention is a computerized system that includes a global file of global variables, a plurality of local files, and a plurality of cells. Each local file relates a plurality of local variables to the global variables. Each cell corresponds to a local file and has a set of parameters corresponding to the local variables of the local file.

Claims

1. A computerized system comprising:

a global file of global variables;

a plurality of local files, each local file relating a plurality of local variables to the global variables; and

,

a plurality of cells, each cell corresponding to a local file and having a set of parameters corresponding to the local variables of the local file.

2. The computerized system of

claim 1

, wherein each local file comprises an inherit file.

3. The computerized system of

claim 1

, wherein each local file comprises an instance file.

4. The computerized system of

claim 1

, further comprising a plurality of master files, each master file acting as an initial version of a corresponding local file.

5. The computerized system of

claim 1

, further comprising a cleansheet file containing current design rules for the plurality of cells such that values for the global variables of the global file are derived therefrom.

6. The computerized system of

claim 5

, further comprising an extract mechanism to update values for the global variables of the global file from the current design rules of the cleansheet file.

7. The computerized system of

claim 1

, further comprising a mechanism to display values for the local variables of a local file, and permit a user to change one or more of the values.

8. The computerized system of

claim 1

, further comprising an update mechanism to update the set of parameters of each cell by reading values for the global variables to which the local variables of the corresponding local file correspond.

9. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon to cause a suitably equipped computer to update a set of parameters of a cell by relating local variables of a local file for the cell to global variables of a global file.

10. The computer-readable medium of

claim 9

, wherein each local file comprises an inherit file.

11. The computer-readable medium of

claim 9

, wherein each local file comprises an instance file.

12. The computer-readable medium of

claim 9

, further having a second computer program stored thereon to cause the suitably equipped computer to update values for the global variables of the global file from current design rules of a cleansheet file.

13. The computer-readable medium of

claim 9

, further having a second computer program stored thereon to display values for the local variables of the local file, and permit a user to change one or more of the values.

14. The computer-readable medium of

claim 9

, wherein the computer program is written in the SKILL computer language that is utilized in conjunction with Design Framework II software available from Cadence Design Systems, Inc.

15. A computer comprising:

a processor;

a computer-readable medium;

a global file of global variables stored on the medium;

a plurality of local files stored on the medium, each local file relating a plurality of local variables to the global variables; and

,

a computer program executed by the processor from the medium to update a set of parameters for each of a plurality of cells having a corresponding local file by reading values for the global variables to which the local variables of the local file correspond.

16. The computer of

claim 15

, wherein each local file comprises an instance file.

17. The computer of

claim 15

, wherein each local file comprises an inherit file.

18. The computer of

claim 15

, further comprising a second computer program executed by the processor from the medium to display values for the local variables of a local file, and permit a user to change one or more of the values.

19. The computer of

claim 15

, further comprising a plurality of master files stored on the medium, each master file acting as an initial version of a corresponding local file.

20. The computer of

claim 15

, further comprising a cleansheet file stored on the medium and containing current design rules for the plurality of cells such that values for the global variables of the global file are derived therefrom.

21. The computer of

claim 20

, further comprising a second computer program executed by the processor from the medium to update values for the global variables of the global file from the current design rules of the cleansheet file.

22. A computerized method comprising:

changing at least one of a plurality of design rules within a cleansheet file;

updating values for a plurality of global variables of a global file based on the design rules of the cleansheet file; and

,

updating a set of parameters of a cell by relating corresponding local variables of a local file for the cell to corresponding global variables of the global file.

23. The computerized method of

claim 22

, wherein each local file comprises an inherit file.

24. The computerized method of

claim 22

, wherein each local file comprises an instance file.

25. The computerized method of

claim 22

, wherein the computerized method is performed in conjunction with Design Framework II software available from Cadence Design Systems, Inc.