System and method of determining the noise sensitivity of an integrated circuit
First Claim
1. A method of designing an integrated circuit comprising the steps of:
- specifying a layout of components included in the integrated circuit;
identifying coupled pairs of said components;
identifying noise susceptibility factors for each of said pair of coupled components; and
retrieving prestored noise characteristics using said noise susceptibility factors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention includes an apparatus and a method of designing integrated circuits in which the susceptibility of the integrated circuit to noise is estimated by analyzing the components of the circuits. Suspected noise susceptibility factors were investigated to determine the effects of various potential factors on noise characteristics. It was determined that percent of “bad” capacitance to total capacitance of wire coupling pairs of components, the total length of the corresponding wires between pairs of components that are subject to capacitive coupling and driver output impedance of driving circuits each contributed significantly to noise factors in integrated circuits. It was also determined that the integrated circuit being analyzed can be analyzed as pairs of coupled components (drivers, receivers an interconnections between drivers and receivers) to which the noise susceptibility factors can be applied and used to determine the overall susceptibility of noise of the circuit.
13 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of designing an integrated circuit comprising the steps of:
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specifying a layout of components included in the integrated circuit;
identifying coupled pairs of said components;
identifying noise susceptibility factors for each of said pair of coupled components; and
retrieving prestored noise characteristics using said noise susceptibility factors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A tool for the design of an integrated circuit comprising:
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an integrated circuit layout tool providing an integrated circuit layout including a plurality of pairs of coupled components, each pair coupled by a respective wire;
a noise calculation tool providing noise susceptibility factors for each of said coupled components in said circuit layout; and
a noise calculation tool providing parameter noise characteristics of each of said wires using a prestored value retrieved as a function of said noise susceptibility factors. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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14. An integrated circuit formed by the steps of:
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specifying a layout of components included in the integrated circuit;
identifying coupled pairs of said components;
identifying noise susceptibility factors for each of said pair of coupled components; and
retrieving prestored noise characteristics using said noise susceptibility factors.
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Specification