Patents by Inventor Hardy Kwok-Shing Leung

Hardy Kwok-Shing Leung has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7240314
    Abstract: An integrated circuit and a method for using metal fill geometries to reduce the voltage drop in power meshes. Metal fill geometries are connected to the power mesh using vias or wires at multiple locations. Metal fill geometries are connected to other floating metal fill geometries using vias or wires at multiple locations. The circuit design introduces maximum redundancy between metal fill geometries and power mesh geometries, but partial redundancy between metal fill geometries and metal fill geometries. In particular, the redundancy in connectivity between metal fill geometries and metal fill geometries is kept minimal to reduce the number of geometries introduced. The high redundancy between metal fill geometries and power mesh geometries and the partial redundancy among metal fill geometries result in a smaller IR-drop by reducing the effective resistance on a power mesh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Assignee: Magma Design Automation, Inc.
    Inventor: Hardy Kwok-Shing Leung
  • Publication number: 20030121018
    Abstract: Disclosed is a subgrid detailed router that performs searches for wire locations at the grid level. Once a solution is found, the wire is placed in a based upon a finer subgrid. Specifically, the present invention includes subgrids that in a preferred embodiment have a resolution that is 16×greater than the resolution of the conventional grids. This increased resolution is useful for improving routing density with variable width and variable spacing designs. In operation, the subgrid detailed router of the present invention searches at the grid level for potential wire paths using a code associated with each grid. This code contains data corresponding to each of the subgrids, such that upon completion of a routing a net, information exists that allows for the placement of the net at locations corresponding to the subgrid that has finer resolution than the grid which was used to implement the routing search.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2002
    Publication date: June 26, 2003
    Inventors: Hardy Kwok-Shing Leung, Raymond X. Nijssen
  • Patent number: 6507941
    Abstract: Disclosed is a subgrid detailed router that performs searches for wire locations at the grid level. Once a solution is found, the wire is placed in a based upon a finer subgrid. Specifically, the present invention includes subgrids that in a preferred embodiment have a resolution that is 16X greater than the resolution of the conventional grids. This increased resolution is useful for improving routing density with variable width and variable spacing designs. In operation, the subgrid detailed router of the present invention searches at the grid level for potential wire paths using a code associated with each grid. This code contains data corresponding to each of the subgrids, such that upon completion of a routing a net, information exists that allows for the placement of the net at locations corresponding to the subgrid that has finer resolution than the grid which was used to implement the routing search.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: Magma Design Automation, Inc.
    Inventors: Hardy Kwok-Shing Leung, Raymond X. Nijssen