Determining a design attribute by estimation and by calibration of estimated value
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of performing static timing analysis on a circuit, the method comprising:
- executing a static timing analysis algorithm, by a computer, to compute a first base timing delay value of a circuit including first transistors of a first channel length;
executing an estimation algorithm, by the computer, to compute a first estimated timing delay value of the circuit including the first transistors of the first channel length, the estimation algorithm requiring less computation than the static timing analysis algorithm;
determining a ratio between the first timing delay value and the first estimated timing delay value;
executing the estimation algorithm, by the computer, to compute a second estimated timing delay value of the circuit including second transistors of a second channel length; and
obtaining a calibrated version of the second estimated timing delay value by multiplying the ratio to the second estimated timing delay value.
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Abstract
A computer-implemented method of determining an attribute of a circuit includes using a computationally expensive technique to simulate the attribute (such as timing delay or slew) of a portion of the circuit, at predetermined values of various parameters (e.g. nominal values of channel length or metal width), to obtain at least a first value of the attribute. The method also uses a computationally inexpensive technique to estimate the same attribute, thereby to obtain at least a second value which is less accurate than the first value. Then the computationally inexpensive technique is repeatedly used on other values of the parameter(s), to obtain a number of additional second values of the attribute. Applying to the additional second values, a function obtained by calibrating the at least one second value to the at least one first value, can yield calibrated estimates very quickly, which represent the attribute'"'"'s variation relatively accurately.
52 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of performing static timing analysis on a circuit, the method comprising:
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executing a static timing analysis algorithm, by a computer, to compute a first base timing delay value of a circuit including first transistors of a first channel length; executing an estimation algorithm, by the computer, to compute a first estimated timing delay value of the circuit including the first transistors of the first channel length, the estimation algorithm requiring less computation than the static timing analysis algorithm; determining a ratio between the first timing delay value and the first estimated timing delay value; executing the estimation algorithm, by the computer, to compute a second estimated timing delay value of the circuit including second transistors of a second channel length; and obtaining a calibrated version of the second estimated timing delay value by multiplying the ratio to the second estimated timing delay value. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A computer-implemented method of determining changes in a design attribute of a circuit, the method comprising:
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computing, by a computer, a first value of a design attribute of a circuit corresponding to a first value of a design parameter of the circuit using a simulation algorithm; determining a first estimated value of the design attribute corresponding to the first value of the design parameter using an estimation technique; and determining a calibration function for computing a calibrated value of the first estimate based at least on a first ratio between the first value of the design attribute and the first estimated value of the design attribute, the calibrated value of the first estimate more accurate than the first estimated value of the design attribute. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to:
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compute a first value of a design attribute of a circuit corresponding to a first value of a design parameter of the circuit using a simulation algorithm; determine a first estimated value of the design attribute corresponding to the first value of the design parameter using an estimation technique; and determine a calibration function for computing a calibrated value of the first estimate based at least on a first ratio between the first value of the design attribute and the first estimated value of the design attribute, the calibrated value of the first estimate more accurate than the first estimated value of the design attribute. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for determining changes in a design attribute of a circuit comprising:
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a computer processor; and a non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store instructions, the instructions when executed by the processor cause the processor to; compute a first value of a design attribute of a circuit corresponding to a first value of a design parameter of the circuit using a simulation algorithm; determine a first estimated value of the design attribute corresponding to the first value of the design parameter using an estimation technique; and determine a calibration function for computing a calibrated value of the first estimate based at least on a first ratio between the first value of the design attribute and the first estimated value of the design attribute, the calibrated value of the first estimate more accurate than the first estimated value of the design attribute. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification