Method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for providing in situ, customizable information in designing electronic circuits with electrical awareness

• US 8,782,577 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Issued: 07/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Original Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Inventors: Fischer, Ed, White, David, McSherry, Michael, Yanagida, Bruce, Kenzle, Vance
• Primary Examiner(s): Whitmore, Stacy
• Application Number:
  US12/982,822
• Publication Number:
  US 20120023471A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,293 Days
• Field of Search: 716/100, 716110-112, 716/136, 716/139
• US Class Current: 716/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/39 Circuit design at the physical level physical level design for reconfigurable circuits G06F30/347

Abstract

Disclosed are a method, system, and computer program product for providing customizable information in designing electronic circuits with electrical awareness. The method or the system displays a portion of a physical design of an electronic circuit in a first display area. The method or the system receives or identifies a user'"'"'s or a system'"'"'s manipulation of the portion of the physical design of the electronic circuit. The method or the system then determines and displays an in situ response to the manipulation in the first display area. The method or the system may further display, in the first display area or in another display area, result(s) relating to the physical data of a component, electrical parasitic(s) associated with the physical data, electrical characteristic(s) associated with the physical data or the electrical characteristic(s), or other element(s) of the physical design that is impacted by the manipulation.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for providing customizable information in designing an electronic circuit with electrical awareness, comprising:

using at least one processor that is programmed for performing a process comprising;

displaying a portion of a physical design of an electronic circuit design in a first display portion of an user interface on a display apparatus;

receiving or identifying an operation on a component in the portion of the physical design; and

predicting an impact of the operation on the component or on the electronic circuit design to determine and display a response to the operation in the first display portion of the user interface and a first response to the operation in a second display portion of the user interface prior to completion of the operation, wherein

the first display portion and the second display portion interact with each other to display different predictions of the operation on the component in the portion of the physical design during a performance of the operation.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the operation comprising:

identifying, creating, updating, or modifying physical data of a component in the physical design;

identifying or determining an electrical parasitic associated with the component; and

characterizing an electrical characteristic of the component using the electrical parasitic to generate a first set of results.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2, the operation further comprising:

identifying, creating, updating, or modifying a schematic design associated with the physical design; and

characterizing a behavioral characteristic of the component using the schematic design to generate a second set of results.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, the operation further comprising:

evaluating or reviewing the physical design based at least in part upon the first set of results and the second set of results.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, in which the act of evaluating or reviewing the design comprises:

determining whether the physical design comply with requirements of a specification of the electronic circuit design without performing or requiring a performance of the LVS check.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5, in which the act of determining whether the physical design comply with requirements of the specification comprises:

comparing the first set of results with the second set of results.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the physical design comprises a partial physical design that does not pass a layout versus schematic (LVS) check.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the process further comprising:

identifying a measurement probe that is placed in the physical design, in which the measurement probe determines a characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of at least a part of the component; and

performing the measurement probe to determine the characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of the at least a part of the component.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8, the act for identifying the measurement probe comprising:

displaying the characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of the at least a part of the component in an information balloon in the user interface.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 8, the act for identifying the measurement probe comprising:

identifying one or more requirements for the measurement probe;

identifying a first location in the physical design; and

identifying a second location in the physical design.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 10, the act for identifying the first location or the action for identifying the second location comprising:

determining the first location or the second location based at least on a cursor location of a cursor in the user interface; and

identifying one or more components at the cursor location based at least in part upon a number of overlaps at the cursor location in the physical design.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 11, in which the act of determining the first location or the second location based at least on the cursor location is performed while the cursor is hovering at the cursor location in the user interface without requiring identification or selection of the cursor location from human intervention.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

using a pop-up window programmed or configured for performing at least one of;

responding to a user'"'"'s operation in a part of the user interface;

providing customizable or user definable data or information to a user; and

receiving a user'"'"'s input.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the response is displayed in substantially real-time in the first display portion.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 2, the operation further comprising a manipulation of the physical design, wherein the manipulation comprises updating, editing, modifying, or creating a part of electronic circuit design in a physical domain.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15, the process further comprising:

automatically providing or updating a first in situ, customizable result in an interactive navigator of the user interface in response to the manipulation.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 16, the process further comprising:

automatically providing or updating a second in situ, customizable result in an interactive browser of the user interface in response to the manipulation.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 17, the process further comprising:

identifying or determining a customizable color coding or highlighting scheme for displaying information or data in at least one of the first display portion, the interactive navigator, and the interactive browser.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 18, the process further comprising:

automatically updating display of at least one of the first display portion, the interactive navigator, and the interactive browser in response to the manipulation that is made in another one of the first display portion, the interactive navigator, and the interactive browser.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 16, the process further comprising:

presenting the first in situ, customizable result in a tabulated form in the interactive navigator of the user interface; and

providing one or more arithmetic, mathematical, or statistical function or one or more sorting operations to operate upon the first in situ, customizable result.

21. The computer implemented method of claim 16, the process further comprising:

evaluating or comparing the component with a second component in the physical design; and

presenting a result of the act of evaluating or comparing the component with the second component in the interactive navigator.

22. The computer implemented method of claim 16, the process further comprising:

analyzing or characterizing at least a part of the physical design to determine whether the at least a part of the physical design satisfies an electro-migration limit; and

presenting a result of the act of analyzing or characterizing the at least a part of the physical design in the interactive navigator.

23. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the process further comprising:

identifying one or more datasets for the act of characterizing the electrical characteristic of the component.

24. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the process further comprising:

identifying one or more datasets for the act of characterizing the electrical characteristic of the component; and

identifying a first technology file, wherein the first technology comprises one or more parameters for a first process of a first manufacturer.

25. The computer implemented method of claim 24, the process further comprising:

identifying a second technology file, wherein the second technology comprises one or more parameters for a second process of a second manufacturer.

26. The computer implemented method of claim 1, the process further comprising:

identifying or determining a fix to correct a violation in the physical design; and

receiving a determination of whether to apply the fix or automatically applying the fix to correct the violation in the physical design.

27. The computer implemented method of claim 26, wherein the fix comprises a manually identified fix to correct the violation.

28. The computer implemented method of claim 26, wherein the fix comprises a recommended fix to correct the violation.

29. The computer implemented method of claim 17, in which the first in situ, customizable result or the second in situ, customizable result is presented on a net-by-net or layer-by-layer basis.

30. The computer implemented method of claim 17, the process further comprising at least one of:

displaying a symbol or a bounding box for at least a part of the component in the first interactive display portion when a counter-part of the at least a part of the component is identified in the interactive browser or the interactive navigator; and

emphasizing the counter-part of the at least a part of the component in the interactive browser or the interactive navigator when the at least a part of the component is identified in the first interactive display portion.

31. The computer implemented method of claim 2, the process further comprising:

incrementally identifying, creating, updating, or modifying next physical data of a next component in the physical design;

identifying or determining a next electrical parasitic associated with the next component; and

characterizing a next electrical characteristic of the next component using the next electrical parasitic to generate a next set of results on a component by component basis.

32. A system for providing customizable information in designing an electronic circuit with electrical awareness, comprising:

at least one processor that is at least to;

display a portion of a physical design of an electronic circuit design in a first display portion of an user interface on a display apparatus;

receive or identifying an operation on the portion of the physical design; and

predict an impact of the operation on the component or on the electronic circuit design to determine and display a response to the operation in the first display portion of the user interface and a first response to the operation in a second display portion of the user interface prior to completion of the operation, wherein

the first display portion and the second display portion interact with each other to display different predictions of the operation on the component in the portion of the physical design during a performance of the operation.

33. The system of claim 32, the operation comprising:

identifying, creating, updating, or modifying physical data of a component in the physical design;

identifying or determining an electrical parasitic associated with the component;

characterizing an electrical characteristic of the component using the electrical parasitic to generate a first set of results;

identifying, creating, updating, or modifying a schematic design associated with the physical design;

characterizing a behavioral characteristic of the component using the schematic design to generate a second set of results; and

evaluating or reviewing the physical design based at least in part upon the first set of results and the second set of results.

34. The system of claim 32, the at least one processor is further to:

identify a measurement probe that is placed in the physical design, in which the measurement probe is to determine a characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of at least a part of the component, wherein the at least one processor that is to identify the measurement probe is further to;

display the characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of the at least a part of the component in an information balloon in the user interface; and

perform the measurement probe to determine the characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of the at least a part of the component.

35. The system of claim 34, in which the at least one processor that is to identify the measurement probe is further to:

identify one or more requirements for the measurement probe;

identify a first location in the physical design; and

identify a second location in the physical design, wherein the at least one processor that is to identify the first location or to identify the second location is further to;

determine the first location or the second location based at least on a cursor location of a cursor in the user interface; and

identify one or more components at the cursor location based at least in part upon a number of overlaps at the cursor location in the physical design.

36. The system of claim 33, the operation further comprising a manipulation of the physical design, wherein the manipulation comprises updating, editing, modifying, or creating a part of electronic circuit design in a physical domain.

37. The system of claim 35, the at least one processor is further to:

automatically provide or update a first in situ, customizable result in an interactive navigator of the user interface in response to the manipulation;

automatically provide or update a second in situ, customizable result in an interactive browser of the user interface in response to the manipulation; and

identify or determine a customizable color coding or highlighting scheme for displaying information or data in at least one of the first display portion, the interactive navigator, and the interactive browser.

38. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereupon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform a process for providing customizable information in designing an electronic circuit with electrical awareness, the process comprising:

using the at least one processor that is programmed for performing the process that comprises;

displaying a portion of a physical design in a first display portion of an user interface on a display apparatus;

receiving a manipulation of the portion of the physical design; and

predicting an impact of the operation on the component or on the electronic circuit design to determine and display a response to the manipulation in the first display portion of the user interface and a first response to the operation in a second display portion of the user interface prior to completion of the operation, wherein

the first display portion and the second display portion interact with each other to display different predictions of the operation on the component in the portion of the physical design during a performance of the operation.

39. The article of manufacture of claim 38, the operation comprising:

identifying, creating, updating, or modifying physical data of a component in the physical design;

identifying or determining an electrical parasitic associated with the component;

characterizing an electrical characteristic of the component using the electrical parasitic to generate a first set of results;

identifying, creating, updating, or modifying a schematic design associated with the physical design;

characterizing a behavioral characteristic of the component using the schematic design to generate a second set of results; and

evaluating or reviewing the physical design based at least in part upon the first set of results and the second set of results.

40. The article of manufacture of claim 38, the process further comprising:

identifying a measurement probe that is placed in the physical design, in which the measurement probe determines a characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of at least a part of the component, wherein the act of identifying the measurement probe comprises;

displaying the characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of the at least a part of the component in an information balloon in the user interface; and

performing the measurement probe to determine the characteristic, parasitic, or geometric data of the at least a part of the component.

41. The article of manufacture of claim 40, the act of identifying the measurement probe further comprising:

identifying one or more requirements for the measurement probe;

identifying a first location in the physical design; and

identifying a second location in the physical design, wherein the act for identifying the first location or the action for identifying the second location comprises;

determining the first location or the second location based at least on a cursor location of a cursor in the user interface; and

identifying one or more components at the cursor location based at least in part upon a number of overlaps at the cursor location in the physical design.

42. The system of claim 39, the operation further comprising a manipulation of the physical design, wherein the manipulation comprises updating, editing, modifying, or creating a part of electronic circuit design in a physical domain.

43. The article of manufacture of claim 42, the process further comprising:

automatically providing or updating a first in situ, customizable result in an interactive navigator of the user interface in response to the manipulation;

automatically providing or updating a second in situ, customizable result in an interactive browser of the user interface in response to the manipulation; and

identifying or determining a customizable color coding or highlighting scheme for displaying information or data in at least one of the first display portion, the interactive navigator, and the interactive browser.