Method for restructuring physical design images into hierarchical data models
First Claim
1. A method for restructuring a physical design image into a data model comprising the steps of:
- providing a physical design image;
identifying leaf areas in the physical design image;
classifying the leaf areas as being of one or more types according to a characteristic of the leaf areas;
grouping adjacent leaf areas of equivalent type into one or more area arrays;
recognizing equivalent adjacent and non-adjacent area arrays and forming a set of one or more unique area arrays;
partitioning each unique area array into one or more partition areas;
recognizing equivalent partition areas and forming a set of one or more unique partition areas; and
generating area specifications for each unique partition area and for each unique leaf area.
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Abstract
A method for restructuring information stored in physical design image form, such as an image of a layer in a semiconductor package, into a hierarchical area specification model useful in automated design applications. The restructuring results in recognizing identical patterns in the image and storing common information about the patterns in a single location to decrease storage space required and improve access efficiency by design application programs needing the information. Parameters controlling the method can be adjusted to produce a hierarchical model that is particularly suited to the needs of a particular application program.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for restructuring a physical design image into a data model comprising the steps of:
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providing a physical design image; identifying leaf areas in the physical design image; classifying the leaf areas as being of one or more types according to a characteristic of the leaf areas; grouping adjacent leaf areas of equivalent type into one or more area arrays; recognizing equivalent adjacent and non-adjacent area arrays and forming a set of one or more unique area arrays; partitioning each unique area array into one or more partition areas; recognizing equivalent partition areas and forming a set of one or more unique partition areas; and generating area specifications for each unique partition area and for each unique leaf area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for restructuring an image into a data model comprising the steps of:
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providing an image; identifying leaf areas in the image; classifying the leaf areas as being of one or more types according to a characteristic of the leaf areas; grouping adjacent leaf areas of equivalent type into one or more area arrays; recognizing equivalent area arrays and forming a set of one or more unique area arrays; recursively partitioning each unique area array by desired partitioning criteria to form a hierarchical array of one or more partition areas according to a sequence of steps including; (a) exiting the sequence of steps if an area of Nx by Ny leaf areas has a number of leaf areas within it that is within a predetermined Desired Number of Leaf Areas Range; (b) creating a set of area slices of size New Nx, by New Ny leaf areas by slicing the area of Nx by Ny leaf areas; (c) recognizing equivalent slices from the set of area slices and removing redundant slices to form a set of unique area slices; (d) identifying slices from the set of unique area slices that have previously been assigned an area specification and removing such slices from the set of unique area slices; and (e) for every remaining distinct slice in the set of unique area slices performing the steps of; (i) creating a new area specification, and (ii) repeating the sequence of steps substituting New Nx and New Ny for Nx and Ny ; recognizing equivalent partition areas and forming a set of one or more unique partition areas; and generating area specifications for each unique partition area and for each unique leaf area. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification