Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing physical designs with force directed placement or floorplanning and layout decomposition

• US 9,098,667 B1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Original Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Inventors: McCracken, Thaddeus C., Jarosz, Joseph P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tat, Binh
• Application Number:
  US13/842,684
• Time in Patent Office: 872 Days
• Field of Search: 716118-125
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/392 Floor-planning or layout, e.g. partitioning or placement

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufactures for implementing a physical design with force directed placement or floorplanning and layout decomposition by identifying multiple nodes and then iteratively generating multiple cells by using the multiple nodes in a decomposition process and applying force model(s) to iteratively morph the cells until convergence criteria are satisfied to generate a layout or floorplan of an electronic design without requiring complete conductivity for the electronic design. The initially identified custom conductivity information is maintained throughout this iterative process.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for implementing a physical design with force directed placement or floorplanning and layout decomposition, comprising:

at least one processor performing a process, the process comprising;

identifying a set of nodes for an area of an electronic design;

partitioning the area of the electronic design into a set of cells using at least the set of nodes, wherein the set of cells includes a plurality of Voronoi cells; and

generating the physical design for the area of the electronic design by using the at least one processor to apply one or more force models to morph at least some cells of the set of cells, wherein generating the physical design comprises;

iteratively applying the one or more force models on the set of cells to move at least some nodes of the set of nodes of corresponding cells in the set of cells to respective new locations; and

iteratively modifying at least some shapes of the corresponding cells based in part or in whole upon the respective new locations.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the process further comprises:

identifying conductivity information for the electronic design, wherein the physical design is generated using at least the conductivity information, without using information of pins; and

determining the one or more force models based at least in part upon the set of nodes or the set of cells.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the process further comprises:

moving at least one node of the set of nodes by using the one or more force models to determine a new location for the at least one node.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the process further comprises:

updating at least one cell in the set of cells by changing a shape of the at least one cell based at least on the new location.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the process further comprises:

determining whether one or more convergence criteria are satisfied, wherein the physical design is generated using at least the conductivity information, without using netlists.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the act of partitioning the area of the electronic design into the set of cells comprises:

applying at least one force model of the one or more force models to the set of nodes to distribute the set of nodes in the area;

identifying a decomposition process for the area of the electronic design; and

generating the set of cells for the area by using at least the decomposition process to operate on the set of nodes.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the act of generating the physical design for the area of the electronic design by applying one or more force models to morph at least some cells of the set of cells further comprises:

updating at least one force model of the one or more force model based at least in part on the set of cells that have been iteratively modified; and

determining whether the set of cells including the corresponding cells, which have been modified, satisfies a criterion.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the one or more force models include a containment force model or a cell-based attractive model, and the physical design comprises a floorplan or a placement layout.

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

inferring additional conductivity information by using at least the set of cells; and

configuring or reconfiguring conductivity for a first cell and a second cell in the set of cells so the first cell and the second cell have a uniform degree.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the process further comprises:

anchoring a second cell of the set of cells at an edge of the area to third cell outside the area.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, in which the process further comprises:

adding one or more additional child nodes to a parent cell including a parent node in the set of cells;

applying at least one force model of the one or more force models or an additional force model to the one or more additional child nodes in the parent cell to bind the one or more additional child nodes to the parent node; and

determining a new set of cells by using at least the force models, the set of nodes, and the one or more additional set of nodes for the area of the electronic design.

12. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing thereupon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor or at least one processor core, causes the at least one processor or the at least one processor core to perform a method for implementing a physical design with force directed placement or floorplanning and layout decomposition, the method comprising:

at least one processor performing a process, the process comprising;

identifying a set of nodes for an area of an electronic design;

partitioning the area of the electronic design into a set of cells using at least the set of nodes, wherein the set of cells includes a plurality of Voronoi cells; and

generating the physical design for the area of the electronic design by executing the sequence of instructions with the at least one processor to apply one or more force models to morph at least some cells of the set of cells, wherein generating the physical design comprises;

iteratively applying the one or more force models on the set of cells to move at least some nodes of the set of nodes of corresponding cells in the set of cells to respective new locations; and

iteratively modifying at least some shapes of the corresponding cells based in part or in whole upon the respective new locations.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, in which the process further comprises:

identifying conductivity information for the electronic design, wherein the physical design is generated using at least the conductivity information, without using information of pins; and

determining the one or more force models based at least in part upon the set of nodes or the set of cells.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, the process further comprising:

inferring additional conductivity information by using at least the set of cells; and

configuring or reconfiguring conductivity for a first cell and a second cell in the set of cells so the first cell and the second cell have a uniform degree.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 12, in which the process further comprises at least one of:

moving at least one node of the set of nodes by using the one or more force models to determine a new location for the at least one node;

updating at least one cell in the set of cells by changing a shape of the at least one cell based at least on the new location;

determining whether one or more convergence criteria are satisfied; and

anchoring a second cell of the set of cells at an edge of the area to third cell outside the area.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 12, in which the act of partitioning the area of the electronic design into the set of cells comprises:

applying at least one force model of the one or more force models to the set of nodes to distribute the set of nodes in the area;

identifying a decomposition process for the area of the electronic design; and

generating the set of cells for the area by using at least the decomposition process to operate on the set of nodes.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 12, in which the act of generating the physical design for the area of the electronic design by applying one or more force models to morph at least some cells of the set of cells further comprises:

updating at least one force model of the one or more force model based at least in part on the set of cells that have been iteratively modified; and

determining whether the set of cells including the corresponding cells, which have been modified, satisfies a criterion.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 12, in which the process further comprises:

adding one or more additional child nodes to a parent cell including a parent node in the set of cells;

applying at least one force model of the one or more force models or an additional force model to the one or more additional child nodes in the parent cell to bind the one or more additional child nodes to the parent node; and

determining a new set of cells by using at least the force models, the set of nodes, and the one or more additional set of nodes for the area of the electronic design.

19. A system for using virtual sales process engineering, comprising:

a computing system that comprises at least one processor having at least one core and is to;

identify a set of nodes for an area of an electronic design;

partition the area of the electronic design into a set of cells using at least the set of nodes, wherein the set of cells includes a plurality of Voronoi cells; and

generate the physical design for the area of the electronic design by using the at least one processor to apply one or more force models to morph at least some cells of the set of cells, wherein the computing system that is to generate the physical design is further to

iteratively apply the one or more force models on the set of cells to move at least some nodes of the set of nodes of corresponding cells in the set of cells to respective new locations; and

iteratively modify at least some shapes of the corresponding cells based in part or in whole upon the respective new locations.

20. The system of claim 19, in which the computing system is further to:

identify conductivity information for the electronic design, wherein the physical design is generated using at least the conductivity information, without using information of pins; and

determine the one or more force models based at least in part upon the set of nodes or the set of cells.

21. The system of claim 20, in which the computing system is further to:

infer additional conductivity information by using at least the set of cells; and

configure or reconfiguring conductivity for a first cell and a second cell in the set of cells so the first cell and the second cell have a uniform degree.

22. The system of claim 19, in which the computing system is further to:

move at least one node of the set of nodes by using the one or more force models to determine a new location for the at least one node;

update at least one cell in the set of cells by changing a shape of the at least one cell based at least on the new location;

determine whether one or more convergence criteria are satisfied;

or

anchor a second cell of the set of cells at an edge of the area to third cell outside the area.

23. The system of claim 19, in which the computing system that is to partition the area of the electronic design into the set of cells is further to:

apply at least one force model of the one or more force models to the set of nodes to distribute the set of nodes in the area;

identify a decomposition process for the area of the electronic design; and

generate the set of cells for the area by using at least the decomposition process to operate on the set of nodes.

24. The system of claim 19, in which the computing system that is to generate the physical design for the area of the electronic design by applying one or more force models to morph at least some cells of the set of cells is further to:

update at least one force model of the one or more force model based at least in part on the set of cells that have been iteratively modified; and

determine whether the set of cells including the corresponding cells, which have been modified, satisfies a criterion.

25. The system of claim 19, in which the computing system is further to:

add one or more additional child nodes to a parent cell including a parent node in the set of cells;

apply at least one force model of the one or more force models or an additional force model to the one or more additional child nodes in the parent cell to bind the one or more additional child nodes to the parent node; and

determine a new set of cells by using at least the force models, the set of nodes, and the one or more additional set of nodes for the area of the electronic design.