Method and apparatus for identifying double patterning loop violations
First Claim
1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for detecting design rule violations in a multi-layer circuit design layout including a plurality of shapes, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
- identifying a plurality of disjoint sets of shapes that each comprises a number of shapes on one layout layer that are each within a threshold distance from at least one other shape in a same disjoint set of shapes, wherein no shape within a disjoint set is within the threshold distance of any shape in another disjoint set;
in each particular disjoint set of a group of disjoint sets, identifying at least one subset of shapes that forms a loop of shapes that includes at least three shapes and includes only shapes of the particular disjoint set that are each within a threshold distance from at least two other shapes in the particular disjoint set, wherein at least one particular loop of one identified particular subset wholly contains at least one shape that is not part of the identified particular subset;
examining different identified subsets of shapes to identify any identified subset that violates a design rule; and
for each identified particular subset of shapes that violates a design rule, displaying a marker near the identified particular subset of shapes to visually aid a user to identify and resolve the design rule violation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for automatically, accurately, and efficiently identifying double patterning (DP) loop violations in an IC design layout. The method of some embodiments identifies DP loop violations in a manner that eliminates false identification of DP loop violations without missing DP loop violations that should be identified. The method of some embodiments also generates a marker for each identified DP loop violation to indicate that a set of shapes associated with the marker forms the DP loop and displays the marker in the design layout.
39 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program for detecting design rule violations in a multi-layer circuit design layout including a plurality of shapes, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
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identifying a plurality of disjoint sets of shapes that each comprises a number of shapes on one layout layer that are each within a threshold distance from at least one other shape in a same disjoint set of shapes, wherein no shape within a disjoint set is within the threshold distance of any shape in another disjoint set; in each particular disjoint set of a group of disjoint sets, identifying at least one subset of shapes that forms a loop of shapes that includes at least three shapes and includes only shapes of the particular disjoint set that are each within a threshold distance from at least two other shapes in the particular disjoint set, wherein at least one particular loop of one identified particular subset wholly contains at least one shape that is not part of the identified particular subset; examining different identified subsets of shapes to identify any identified subset that violates a design rule; and for each identified particular subset of shapes that violates a design rule, displaying a marker near the identified particular subset of shapes to visually aid a user to identify and resolve the design rule violation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system comprising:
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a processor for executing sets of instructions; and a memory for storing a computer program for correcting design rule violations in a multi-layer circuit design layout including a plurality of shapes, the program comprising sets of instructions for; identifying a plurality of disjoint sets of shapes that each comprises a number of shapes on one layout layer that are each within a threshold distance from at least one other shape in the same disjoint set of shapes, wherein no shape within a disjoint set is within the threshold distance of any shape in another disjoint set; in each particular disjoint set of a group of disjoint sets, identifying at least one subset of shapes that forms a loop of shapes that includes at least three shapes and includes only shapes of the particular disjoint set that are each within a threshold distance from at least two other shapes in the particular disjoint set, wherein at least one particular loop of one identified particular subset wholly contains at least one shape that is not part of the identified particular subset; examining different identified subsets of shapes to identify any identified subset that violates a design rule; and for each identified particular subset of shapes that violates a design rule, displaying a marker near the identified particular subset of shapes to visually aid a user to identify and resolve the design rule violation. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A computer-implemented method for detecting design rule violations in a multi-layer circuit design layout including a plurality of shapes, the method comprising:
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identifying a plurality of disjoint sets of shapes that each comprises a number of shapes on one layout layer that are each within a threshold distance from at least one other shape in the same disjoint set of shapes, wherein no shape within a disjoint set is within the threshold distance of any shape in another disjoint set; in each particular disjoint set of a group of disjoint sets, identifying at least one subset of shapes that forms a loop of shapes that includes at least three shapes and includes only shapes of the particular disjoint set that are each within a threshold distance from at least two other shapes in the particular disjoint set, wherein at least one particular loop of one identified particular subset wholly contains at least one shape that is not part of the identified particular subset; examining different identified subsets of shapes to identify any identified subset that violates a design rule; and for each identified particular subset of shapes that violates a design rule, displaying, at a computer, a marker near the identified particular subset of shapes to visually aid a user to identify and resolve the design rule violation. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification