Physical design automation system and process for designing integrated circuit chips using fuzzy cell clusterization
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for generating a cluster of cells for integrated circuit design, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a netlist including cells, and nets of wires interconnecting the cells;
(b) designating one of the cells as a center;
(c) specifying a metric for measuring distance between cells as a function of netlist interconnections;
(d) specifying a maximum cluster size criterion;
(e) processing the netlist using said metric to determine distances of cells from the center; and
(f) assigning cells having progressively increasing distances from the center to the cluster until said maximum cluster size criterion is reached.
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Abstract
A computer implemented method for generating and placing clusters of cells for integrated circuit design includes providing a netlist including cells, and nets of wires interconnecting the cells. A metric is specified for measuring distance between cells as a function of netlist interconnections. A length of a net is the number of cells interconnected by said net minus one, and a distance between two cells is a sum of lengths of nets that provide a shortest path between the cells. A maximum cluster size criterion, such as maximum distance of a cell from the center of a cluster, is specified to provide a desired amount of overlap between clusters. Clusters of cells are generated, each cluster being generated by designating one of the cells as the center, processing the netlist using the metric to determine distances of cells from the center, and assigning cells having progressively increasing distances from the center to the cluster until the maximum cluster size criterion is reached. Affinities between pairs of clusters are calculated, and the clusters are placed using force directed placement or other methodology based on the affinities.
66 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for generating a cluster of cells for integrated circuit design, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a netlist including cells, and nets of wires interconnecting the cells; (b) designating one of the cells as a center; (c) specifying a metric for measuring distance between cells as a function of netlist interconnections; (d) specifying a maximum cluster size criterion; (e) processing the netlist using said metric to determine distances of cells from the center; and (f) assigning cells having progressively increasing distances from the center to the cluster until said maximum cluster size criterion is reached. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer implemented method for generating clusters of cells for integrated circuit design, comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a netlist including cells, and nets of wires interconnecting the cells; (b) specifying a metric for measuring distance between cells as a function of netlist interconnections; (c) specifying a maximum cluster size criterion which provides a desired amount of overlap between clusters; and (d) generating clusters of cells, each cluster being generated by performing the steps of; (e) designating one of the cells as a center; (f) processing the netlist using said metric to determine distances of cells from the center; and (g) assigning cells having progressively increasing distances from the center to the cluster until said maximum cluster size criterion is reached. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification