Abstract: A system and method are provided for combined generation of I and Q signal references according to a periodic input signal and selective phase interpolation of an output signal with reference thereto. A ring oscillator portion generates an oscillator signal, and includes a plurality of delay stages interconnected in cascade to collectively execute an odd number of signal state inversions within a closed loop. The delay stages establish at respective nodes defined therebetween correspondingly delayed oscillator signal versions, successively shifted in phase by a predetermined phase difference. A signal injection portion selectively applies to at least one node of the ring oscillator portion a current bias according to the periodic input signal, and selectively adjusts each current bias in amplitude. The oscillator signal is thereby frequency locked to the periodic input signal, defining I/Q references with respect to the delayed oscillator signal version established at the current biased node.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for resolving a circuit connection violation that comprises categorizing a circuit chain with the connection violation into a class, and performing one or more transformation algorithms on the circuit chain from the group consisting of a chain mirror, a cascade mirror, a cascade mirror permute, and a cut chain mirror algorithm based on the class of the circuit chain.

Abstract: Display of measurements in a graphical design on a computer system. In one aspect, shapes are displayed in an image, and a definition of a defined area of the image is received. One or more measurements are determined for one or more of the shapes displayed within the predefined area, the one or more measurements determined automatically without a user designating endpoints for the measurements. The one or more measurements are displayed as being associated with the one or more shapes.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide a manufacturing aware process for designing an integrated circuit (“IC”) layout. The process receives a manufacturing configuration that specifies a set of manufacturing settings for a set of machines to be used to manufacture an IC based on the IC layout. The process defines a set of design rules based on the specified manufacturing configuration. The process uses the set of design rules to design the IC layout. Some embodiments of the invention provide a design aware process for manufacturing an integrated circuit (“IC”). The process receives an IC design with an associated set of design properties. The process specifies a manufacturing configuration that specifies a set of manufacturing settings for a set of machines to be used to manufacture the IC, where the specified set of manufacturing settings are based on the set of design properties. The process manufactures the IC based on the manufacturing settings.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the invention, a method of designing an integrated circuit including a subtraction arithmetic function is provided. The method includes generating a netlist of an area-efficient subtractor to subtract a first input vector from a second input vector. A netlist of a plurality of reduced full subtractor cells is generated with each including an exclusive-NOR gate evaluating a shared Boolean expression to generate a sum bit output and a carry bit output. The netlist of the reduced full subtractor cell is replicated for all bits of the area-efficient subtractor but for the least significant bit. One of a plurality of netlists of subtractor cells is selected for the least significant bit of the area-efficient subtractor in response to a flex bit.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for improving the efficiency of a processor-based emulation engine. The emulation engine is composed of a plurality of processors, each processor capable of emulating a logic gate. Processors are arranged into groups of processors called clusters. Each processor receives inputs, processes the inputs, and stores the outputs in an output array. The output array allows processors within a cluster to fetch an output from a processor that was written to the output array during a previous cycle. The output array can also store and transfer data between clusters of processors. Consequently, the number of cycles that a processor or a cluster has to wait to fetch data is greatly reduced and the efficiency of the emulation engine is increased.

Abstract: Disclosed are improved methods, systems, and computer program products for implementing flexible models to perform efficient prototyping of electronic designs, which allows for very efficient analysis of the electronic designs. The flexible models allow many of the existing tools for designing electronics to perform more efficiently.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, system, and computer program product for implementing electronic circuit designs with IR-drop awareness. Some embodiments perform schematic level simulation(s) to determine electrical characteristics, identifies physical parasitics of a layout component, determines the electrical or physical characteristics associated to IR-drop analysis on the component, and determines whether the component meets IR-drop related constraint(s) while implementing the physical design of the electronic circuit in some embodiments. Some embodiments further determine adjustment(s) to the component or related data where the IR-drop related constraints are not met and/or and present the adjustment(s) in the form of hints. Various data and information, such as currents in various forms or voltages, are passed between various schematic level tools and physical level tools.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for performing thermal analysis of a multi-die integrated circuit (IC) design layout. The thermal analysis produces a temperature distribution for analyzing internal properties of each die within the multi-die design and for analyzing thermal interactions between two or more dies of the design based on an internal configuration of the two or more dies. Therefore, in some embodiments, the temperature distribution shows a temperature distribution for each die and the individual temperature distributions show varying temperature across each of the dies. Some embodiments reduce the number of iteration required to perform the thermal analysis by constructing a high quality preconditioner based on thermal conducting segments introduced to model thermal effects at the boundaries between two dies.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing electronic designs with simulation awareness. A schematic is identified or created and simulated at the schematic level to characterize the functional behavior of the circuit or to ensure the circuit design meets the required design specifications. Physical data of a component of the design is identified, created, or updated, and the electrical parasitic associated with physical data is characterized. One or more electrical characteristics associated with the parasitic is further characterized and mapped to the simulator to re-simulate the circuit design to analyze the impact of parasitics. Some embodiments re-run the same simulation process incrementally in an interactive manner by accepting incremental design or parameter changes from the design environment.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, system, and computer program product for implementing electronic circuit designs with electrical awareness. The method or the system updates the schematic level tool(s) and physical design tool(s) with electrical parasitic data or electrical characteristic data associated with electrical parasitics so both schematic and physical design tools are aware of the electrical parasitic or characteristic data in performing their functions such as extraction based simulations. The methods or systems are also aware of EM or IR-drop constraint(s) while implementing or creating a partial layout less than a complete layout. The method or the system also provides a user interface for a design tool to provide in situ, customizable, real-time information for implementing electronic circuit designs with electrical awareness. The methods or systems also support constraint verification for electronic circuit design implementation with electrical awareness.

Abstract: Disclosed are methods and systems for implementing constraint and connectivity aware physical designs. The method or system provides a connectivity-aware environment to implement electronic designs. For example, the method interactively determines whether an electronic design complies with various constraints by using connectivity information in a nearly real-time manner while the electronic design is being created in some embodiments. The method or system uses the connectivity information provided by a connectivity engine or specified by designers to present feedback to a user as to whether a newly created object or a newly modified object complies or violates certain relevant constraints in an interactive manner or in nearly real-time without having to perform such constraints checking in batch mode. The method further enables one to implement electronic designs by using connectivity information without performing extraction on layouts or rebuilding nets.

Abstract: In one embodiment of the invention, a method is disclosed including receiving a netlist of an integrated circuit design; executing a first copy of an integrated circuit design program with a first processor associated with a first memory space to independently perform work on a first portion of the integrated circuit design; and executing a second copy of the integrated circuit design program with a second processor associated with a second memory space to independently perform work on a second portion of the integrated circuit design; wherein the second memory space is independent of the first memory space.

Abstract: A system and method for optimizing a design layout by identifying features for abutment where the shapes that trigger the abutment are overlapping, within a predefined proximity of each other, or are interface elements for features having a short circuit. The abutment process may identify shapes for abutment that are not connected to a netlist of the design or are otherwise not associated with a connection pin. The abutment process may adjust a shape or feature including, for example by resizing, moving, inserting, or removing one or more shapes from the layout in accordance with predefined layout rules. After the shapes and features have been adjusted abutments may be formed between the features.

Abstract: A method is provided for use during static timing analysis of an integrated circuit design to produce an equivalent waveform model, the method comprising: using an analog model of the inner component, to simulate an inner component to produce multiple analog simulation output characterization waveforms as a function of multiple input waveforms used to characterize the design cell; using the analog model of the inner component to simulate the inner component to produce an analog simulation output waveform as a function of the complex waveform; and producing the equivalent waveform model as a function of the multiple analog simulation output characterization waveforms and the analog simulation output waveform.

Abstract: Management of controls in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a computer system. In one aspect, a command is received to create and display a window in the GUI, the window including one or more controls, each control operative to perform a function of an application in response to selection. An associated scope for each control is determined and indicates an extent of shared use of the control within the GUI. It is determined if a different instance of the control already exists within the scope for the control. If so, resources of the different instance are referenced to be shared for use with the control and new resources are not created for the control. If no different instance exists within the scope, new resources for the control are created and stored. The window and the controls in the GUI are displayed.

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.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for verifying an integrated circuit (IC) design. The method receives a process description file that specifies a process technology for building the IC. The process description file describes a particular device type in which a first conductor overlaps a second conductor by recessing from the second conductor in one or more cut-outs. Based on the process description file, the method finds a section of the IC design that matches the particular device type and uses the description of the particular device type to compute a capacitance value and a resistance value for the section of the IC design.

Abstract: Decoding information using error-correcting codes includes, in one aspect, receiving transmitted information that includes original information coded using an error correction coding technique, and using at least one processor to iteratively decode the transmitted information to correct transmission errors and determine the original information. The iterative decoding includes, in response to becoming trapped in a trapping set, adjusting information used in the iterative decoding and using the adjusted information to break the trapping set and continue the iterative decoding.

Abstract: Decoding information using error-correcting codes includes, in one aspect, receiving transmitted information that includes original information coded using an error correction coding technique, and using at least one processor to iteratively decode the transmitted information to correct transmission errors and determine the original information. The iterative decoding includes determining that the iterative decoding has become trapped in a trapping set before a predetermined maximum number of iterations has been performed. Some embodiments allow that, in response to determining the trapping set, an exit can be performed from the iterative decoding before the predetermined maximum number of iterations has been performed.