Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first power rail, a second power rail, and a first cell. The first cell has a first first-type active region and a first second-type active region, and a first cell height of the first cell is defined as a pitch between the first power rail and the second power rail. The semiconductor device further includes a second cell having a second first-type active region and a second second-type active region, wherein the second first-type active region extends in a second row and a third row on a first side of the first row and has a first width in the column direction greater than a second width of the first first-type active region in the column direction. The semiconductor device also includes a third cell having a first portion and a second portion arranged in the second row and a fourth row, respectively.

Abstract: Methods and systems of verifying a hardware design for a sorter are disclosed. The methods include generating a modified version of the hardware design of the sorter accepting extended inputs and performing formal verification comprising: implementing a constraint that the least significant bits of each input in a set of extended inputs represent a unique value; and formally verifying aspects of the modified version of the hardware design of the sorter for the set of extended inputs.

Abstract: Various embodiments provide a charge model for a cell instance for delay calculation of a circuit design that includes the cell instance, where the charge model can be part of electronic design automation (EDA) and used in timing analysis of a circuit design that includes the cell instance. The charge model generated by an embodiment can predict a charge at an input of a cell instance for an arbitrary input voltage waveform and can address (e.g., reduce or negate) a time delay impact the Miller effect has on the cell instance.

Abstract: Embodiments include herein are directed towards a method for use in an electronic design environment is provided. Embodiments may include receiving, at a client electronic device, work instructions corresponding to an electronic circuit. Embodiments may further include displaying a graphical representation of the electronic circuit at a display screen associated with the client electronic device and displaying at least one instruction at the display screen, wherein displaying includes highlighting a component of the electronic circuit at the display screen.

Abstract: A system for testing the technical applicability of intellectual property rights having a computational linguistics module, which is designed to receive chains of technical graphemes and/or digitized symbolic images of intellectual property right specifications as input information, and to mechanically transfer the input information into an information model, an ontology memory, which is designed to store taxonomies, which are linked via inference rules, of conceptual classified object types, a semiotics module, which is coupled to the computational linguistics module and the ontology memory and which is designed to instantiate semiotic signs included in the information model, which is generated by the computational linguistics module, using conceptual classified object types stored in the ontology memory, and to create a contextualized information model, a construction module, which is coupled to the semiotics module and which is designed to generate a CAD model from the contextualized information model crea

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a lithographic mask includes performing optical proximity correction (OPC) for correcting an optical proximity effect (OPE) on a design layout, and forming a lithographic mask based on the design layout corrected by performing the OPC, wherein performing the OPC includes generating a plurality of segments. and adjusting a bias of the plurality of segments, and the plurality of dissection positions include global uniform dissection positions defined for each third length based on a global coordinate system that is a coordinate system of the whole design layout.

Abstract: A method, computer program product, and/or system is disclosed for testing integrated circuits, e.g., processors, that includes: generating a software design prototype of the functional behavior of an integrated circuit to be tested; creating a lab All-Events-Trace (AET) normalized model of the integrated circuit, wherein the normalized model captures the functions of the integrated circuit and not the non-functional aspects of the integrated circuit; generating a lab scenario using the software design prototype and the AET normalized model of the integrated circuit for a particular cycle of interest, wherein the lab scenario contains initialization for all signals that have hardware information; and generating a replayed lab normalized AET for the particular cycle of interest.

Abstract: A system includes a library, a processor and an output interface. The library contains at least one leakage lookup table related to leakage current values for different cell abutment cases of abutted cells in a semiconductor device. The cell abutment cases are associated with terminal types of cell edges of the abutted cells. The processor is configured to perform an analysis to detect boundaries between the abutted cells, identify attributes associated with the terminal types of the cell edges, identify the cell abutment cases based on the attributes, and calculate maximal boundary leakages between the abutted cells based on leakage current values associated with the cell abutment cases and leakage probabilities associated with the cell abutment cases. The output interface is for outputting boundary leakages corresponding to the maximal boundary leakages in the semiconductor device. A method is also disclosed herein.

Abstract: A method of estimating future aging of a transformer includes generating probabilistic models of factors that affect effective aging of the transformer, generating probabilistic profiles of the factors that affect effective aging of the transformer based on the probabilistic models, generating expected hot spot profiles from the probabilistic profiles, simulating a plurality of aging scenarios of the transformer based on the expected hot spot profiles and ambient temperature profiles, and estimating future aging of the transformer from the plurality of aging scenarios.

Abstract: A method includes identifying state holding pipeline stages in a pipeline path of a design for test (DFT) of an integrated circuit design, splitting each pattern of a plurality of patterns into a first part and a second part, reformatting the plurality of patterns to generate another plurality of patterns such that the first part and the second part of each pattern of the plurality patterns are included in different patterns of the another plurality of patterns. The length of the first part is a function of a number of the identified pipeline stages.

Abstract: A method of generating a plurality of photomasks includes generating a circuit graph. The circuit graph comprises a plurality of vertices and a plurality of edges. Each of the plurality of vertices is representative of one of a plurality of conductive lines. The plurality of edges are representative of a spacing between the conductive lines less than an acceptable minimum distance. Kn+1 graph comprising a first set of vertices selected from the plurality of vertices connected in series by a first set of edges selected from the plurality of edges and having at least one non-series edge connection between a first vertex and a second vertex selected from the first set of vertices is reduced by merging a third vertex into a fourth vertex selected from the first set of the plurality of vertices. An n-pattern conflict check is performed and the photomasks generated based on the result.

Abstract: A system includes a machine configured to perform operations including accessing an integrated circuit design including a buffer tree that interconnects a plurality of inputs and buffers. The buffer tree includes a baseline timing characteristic. The operations include identifying a set of candidate solutions for improving the baseline timing characteristic using an initial timing model and selecting a subset of candidate solutions that have a timing characteristic lower than the baseline timing characteristic. Then the subset of candidate solutions are evaluated using a detailed timing model and based on determining that at least one candidate solution in the subset has a timing characteristic that is better than the baseline timing characteristic, selecting a candidate solution from the set of candidate solutions, and updating the buffer tree based on the candidate solution.

Abstract: In an approach utilizing static analysis, a processor receives a netlist for an integrated circuit. For at least one node of the integrated circuit in the netlist, a processor calculates (i) a total capacitive load of the respective node and (ii) a minimum required driver size. For a driver of the respective node, a processor (i) determines an effective driver size of the driver based on at least a number of fins of the driver and (ii) determines that the effective driver size exceeds the minimum required driver size multiplied by a predefined sizing margin. A processor, responsive to determining that the effective driver size exceeds the minimum required driver size multiplied by the predefined sizing margin, generates a report, where the report includes at least the driver and a suggestion to reduce the effective size of the driver.

Abstract: A method includes: extracting a first current profile model corresponding to a System on Chip (SOC) at a first design stage of the SOC; determining that a first design data of an Integrated Voltage Regulator (IVR) and the SOC pass a first co-simulation based on the extracted first current profile model; extracting a second current profile model corresponding to the SOC at a second design stage of the SOC, the second design stage being subsequent to the first design stage; refining the first design data of the IVR to generate a second design data of the IVR; determining that the second design data of the IVR and the SOC pass a second co-simulation based on the extracted second current profile model.

Abstract: A method and a system for verifying an integrated circuit stack having at least one silicon photonic device is introduced. A dummy layer and a dummy layer text are added to a terminal of at least one silicon photonic device of the integrated circuit. The method may perform a layout versus schematic check of the integrated circuit including the dummy layer and the dummy layer text.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is provided. The method comprises determining a dimensional quantity of a layout pattern having an angle relative to grid lines of a minimum grid. The minimum grid may be defined by a first quantity associated with a first direction and a second quantity associated with a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The determination of the dimensional quantity of the layout pattern is based on the first quantity, the second quantity and the angle of the layout pattern relative to the grid lines of the minimum grid.

Abstract: A method for cell swapping is provided. A location for swapping a first cell is determined. One or more legal positions for cell placement are determined at the location. A plurality of cells is determined for of the plurality of legal positions. A second cell from the plurality of cells is determined based on timing information associated with each of the plurality. The first cell is swapped with the second cell.

Abstract: A processor receives, as input, a first hardware description language (HDL) file defining an entity of a modular circuit design. The first HDL file instantiates, by a storage element declaration in a hardware description language, a storage element within the entity. The first HDL file omits a port map for the storage element. Based on the first HDL file, the processor automatically fully elaborates a port map for the storage element. The processor stores, in data storage, a derived second HDL file defining the entity and including the port map.

Abstract: An injection device is disclosed herein. The injection device is utilized to inject a liquid onto a test area of a semiconductor element. The injection device includes a base, a reservoir, a first testing pipe, a cleaning pipe and a liquid-draining pipe. The reservoir set on the base is provided with at least one connecting port and a dropping port, wherein the dropping port is against the test area of the semiconductor element. The first testing pipe, the cleaning pipe and the liquid-draining pipe are connected to at least one connecting port, wherein a first liquid is injected from the first testing pipe into the reservoir, and wherein the a cleaning liquid is injected from the cleaning pipe into the reservoir to clean the reservoir and the test area. The dropping port is utilized to drain off the first testing liquid and the cleaning liquid in the reservoir. A semiconductor testing system utilizing the injection device and its testing method are also provided herein.

Abstract: Generating a template-driven schematic from a netlist of electronic circuits is disclosed. The template-driven schematic may be useful to generate a set of related circuits for a single overall design as well as allow for a common transfer mechanism between different Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems. To assist in portability of designs, a common file format is disclosed based on a structured text file (e.g., XML). Further, in the disclosed approach, it is possible to not only place primitives but create custom symbols as well. In addition, primitives and symbols may be attached to models, simulation settings may be added, and routing of the circuit in a schematic may be completed. Associated devices and methods are disclosed as well.