Method and system for implementing an improved interface for designing electronic layouts

• US 9,053,289 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2014
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Original Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Inventors: Lamant, Gilles S. C., Yu, Henry, Simonian, Simon, Grad, Johannes Franz Xaver, Taraldson, Jeff
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Brian
• Application Number:
  US14/231,632
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• Field of Search: 716/118, 716/119, 716/126, 716/139
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/39 Circuit design at the physical level physical level design for reconfigurable circuits G06F30/347
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/398 Design verification or optimisation, e.g. using design rule check [DRC], layout versus schematics [LVS] or finite element methods [FEM] optical proximity correction [OPC] design processes G03F1/36

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and system for visualizing legal locations of edges and dimensions for an object being placed or edited in the layout. During the design process, visual indicators may be provided to the user to indicate the legal locations at which edges of an object may be placed in the layout. Gravitation and/or snapping may be provided automatically identify and/or move the edges to the legal locations. However, the user can control whether and under what circumstances the gravitation and/or snapping will occur. In this way, the designer does not need to manually place the edges of every single object, which is especially helpful for objects that are intended to have an edge at a legal location. Upon a design choice by the designer, the objects can be edited so that an edge does not need to immediately comply with a design rule.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method implemented with a processor, the method comprising:

receiving instructions to create or edit an object on an electronic design layout;

tracking a user input to configure the object;

calculating effects of one or more design rules relative to the user input with an interactive layout editing mechanism that includes a processor and calculates the effects to configure the object;

displaying a visual indicator of a valid object configuration while affixing a location of an on-screen indicator for the user input when the on-screen indicator is being moved according to the user input, wherein

the visual indicator includes a ghosted image of at least a portion of the object when at least a part of the object falls within an aperture range; and

controllably permitting either an invalid object configuration or automatic implementation of the valid object configuration.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the automatic implementation of the valid object configuration is performed by snapping an edge to a valid location, and the aperture range include a distance from at least the on-screen indicator to the valid object configuration when the valid object configuration exhibits gravitational effects.

3. The method of claim 1, in which the visual indicator of the valid object configuration comprises the ghosted image corresponding to the valid object configuration while a position of a cursor falls within the aperture range.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the ghosted image corresponding to the valid object configuration is displayed without showing motion of the cursor.

5. The method of claim 3, in which the ghosted image is not displayed when the cursor position falls outside the aperture range.

6. The method of claim 1, in which the one or more design rules comprise an allowable width range constraint.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the aperture range is configured to be at or smaller than ½

of an allowable distance or range constraint.

8. The method of claim 1, in which analysis and visual indicator are provided in a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a combination of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises at least one of a rectangle, polygon, or island.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises a hierarchical object.

11. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer usable medium, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor causes the processor to execute a method, the method comprising:

receiving instructions to create or edit an object on an electronic design layout;

tracking user input to configure the object;

calculating effects of one or more design rules relative to the user input with an interactive layout editing mechanism that includes a processor and calculates the effects to configure the object;

displaying a visual indicator of a valid object configuration while affixing a location of an on-screen indicator for the user input when the on-screen indicator is being moved according to the user input, wherein

the visual indicator includes a ghosted image of at least a portion of the object when at least a part of the object falls within an aperture range; and

controllably permitting either an invalid object configuration or automatic implementation of the valid object configuration.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, in which the automatic implementation of the valid object configuration is performed by snapping an edge to a valid location, and the aperture range include a distance from at least the on-screen indicator to the valid object configuration when the valid object configuration exhibits gravitational effects.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, in which the visual indicator of the valid object configuration comprises the ghosted image corresponding to the valid object configuration while a position of a cursor falls within the aperture range.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the ghosted image corresponding to the valid object configuration is displayed without showing motion of the cursor.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, in which the ghosted image is not displayed when the cursor position falls outside the aperture range.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, in which the one or more design rules comprise an allowable width range constraint.

17. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the aperture range is configured to be at or smaller than ½

of an allowable distance or range constraint.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, in which analysis and visual indicator are provided in a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a combination of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

19. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the object comprises at least one of a rectangle, polygon, or island.

20. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the object comprises a hierarchical object.

21. A system, comprising:

an interactive layout editing mechanism including a processor; and

a memory for holding programmable code, wherein

the programmable code includes instructions which, when executed by the interactive layout editing mechanism, cause the interactive layout editing mechanism to receive instructions to create or edit an object on an electronic design layout, track a user input to configure the object, calculate effects of one or more design rules relative to the user input with the interactive layout editing mechanism that calculates the effects to configure the object, display a visual indicator of a valid object configuration while affixing a location of an on-screen indicator for the user input when the on-screen indicator is moved according to the user input, wherein the visual indicator includes a ghosted image of at least a portion of the object when at least a part of the object falls within an aperture range, and controllably permit either an invalid object configuration or automatic implementation of the valid object configuration.

22. The system of claim 21, in which the automatic implementation of the valid object configuration is performed by snapping an edge to a valid location, and the aperture range include a distance from at least the on-screen indicator to the valid object configuration when the valid object configuration exhibits gravitational effects.

23. The system of claim 21, in which the visual indicator of the valid object configuration comprises the ghosted image corresponding to the valid object configuration while a position of a cursor falls within the aperture range.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the ghosted image corresponding to the valid object configuration is displayed without showing motion of the cursor.

25. The system of claim 23, in which the ghosted image is not displayed when the cursor position falls outside the aperture range.

26. The system of claim 21, in which the one or more design rules comprise an allowable width range constraint.

27. The system of claim 21, wherein the aperture range is configured to be at or smaller than ½

of an allowable distance or range constraint.

28. The system of claim 21, in which analysis and visual indicator are provided in a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a combination of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.

29. The system of claim 21, wherein the object comprises at least one of a rectangle, polygon, or island.

30. The system of claim 21, wherein the object comprises a hierarchical object.