Method and apparatus for defining vias
First Claim
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1. A method of routing nets in a region of a design layout, the region containing a plurality of nets and having multiple interconnect layers, the method comprising:
- a) decomposing the region into a tessellated graph that includes a plurality of faces;
b) identifying topological routes for a set of nets in the region, wherein some of the topological routes utilize vias to traverse multiple interconnect layers, wherein the vias are specified within the faces, wherein each via traverses two faces on two different layers; and
c) moving at least one via to improve a metric score that quantifies the quality of the routing.
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Abstract
Some embodiments of the invention provide a method of routing nets in a region of a design layout. The region contains a plurality of nets and has multiple interconnect layers. The method identifies routes for a set of nets in the region, where some of the routes utilize vias to traverse multiple interconnect layers. The method then moves at least one via to improve the routing.
160 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of routing nets in a region of a design layout, the region containing a plurality of nets and having multiple interconnect layers, the method comprising:
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a) decomposing the region into a tessellated graph that includes a plurality of faces;
b) identifying topological routes for a set of nets in the region, wherein some of the topological routes utilize vias to traverse multiple interconnect layers, wherein the vias are specified within the faces, wherein each via traverses two faces on two different layers; and
c) moving at least one via to improve a metric score that quantifies the quality of the routing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of routing nets in a region, the region having multiple interconnect layers, the method comprising:
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a) decomposing the region into a tessellated graph that includes a plurality of faces;
b) identifying a topological route for each net in a set of nets, wherein at least one topological route utilizes a topological via to traverse multiple interconnect layers, wherein the topological vias are specified within the faces, wherein each topological via traverses two faces on two different layers;
c) selecting the topological via;
d) measuring the congestion of topological routes around the selected topological via; and
e) moving the topological via to reduce the congestion around the selected topological via. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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11. A computer readable medium storing a computer program for routing nets in a region of a design layout, the region containing a plurality of nets and having multiple interconnect layers, the computer program comprising instructions for:
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a) decomposing the region into a tessellated graph that includes a plurality of faces;
b) identifying topological routes for a set of nets in the region, wherein some of the topological routes utilize vias to traverse multiple interconnect layers, wherein the vias are specified within the faces, wherein each via traverses two faces on two different layers; and
c) moving at least one via to improve a metric score that quantifies the quality of the routing. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of routing nets in a region of a design layout, the region containing a plurality of nets and having multiple interconnect layers, the method comprising:
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a) decomposing the region into a tessellated graph that includes a plurality of faces;
b) defining topological routes for nets in the layout, wherein a set of topological routes contain a set of vias, wherein the vias are identified within the faces, wherein each via traverses two faces on two different layers;
c) determining whether moving at least one via would improve the congestion of the topological routes in the layout; and
d) moving at least one via when said determining will improve the congestion of the topological routes in the layout. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A computer readable medium storing a computer program for routing nets in a region of a design layout, the region containing a plurality of nets and having multiple interconnect layers, the computer program comprising instructions for:
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a) decomposing the region into a tessellated graph that includes a plurality of faces;
b) defining topological routes for nets in the layout, wherein a set of topological routes contain a set of vias, wherein the vias are identified within the faces, wherein each via traverses two faces on two different layers;
c) determining whether moving at least one via would improve the congestion of the topological routes in the layout; and
d) moving at least one via when said determining will improve the congestion of the topological routes in the layout.
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Specification