SPRINGSOFT USA, INC. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20140068542 | Systems and Methods for Designing and Making Integrated Circuits with Consideration of Wiring Demand Ratio - A method for designing and making an integrated circuit is described. That method utilizes statistical models of wire segments to accurately estimate the expected length of minimum-length, orthogonal wire segments within a block. From these estimates, the method accurately estimates an ratio between the horizontal and vertical routing resources required, termed the “H/V Demand Ratio.” From the H/V Demand Ratio, an accurate estimate of the height and width of the block may be determined. Thereafter, placement and routing may be performed quickly and accurately, thereby allowing the block to be designed and manufactured quickly and cost effectively. A method for designing an integrated circuit with efficient metal-1 resource utilization is also described. | 03-06-2014 |
20130091098 | METHOD OF SPEEDING UP ACCESS TO DESIGN DATABASES HAVING LARGE NUMBERS OF DESIGN UNITS - A computer-implemented method is disclosed for speeding up database access of electronic design automation (EDA) tool which utilizes a database manager for file access. The EDA tool accesses a plurality of design files, and each of the plurality of design files is associated with one of a plurality of design units for an integrated circuit (IC). The plurality of design files are encapsulated into an archive file which comprises a plurality of data units, wherein each of the data units corresponds to a design file. A request to access a design file will be redirected to access the archive file. The design file is then accessed by accessing the corresponding data unit in the archive file. | 04-11-2013 |
20130055177 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INCREASING DEBUGGING VISIBILITY OF PROTOTYPING SYSTEMS - User's RTL design is analyzed and instrumented so that signals of interest are preserved and can be located in the net list after synthesis. Then, the user's original flow of RTL synthesis and design partition is performed. The output is analyzed to locate the signals of interest. Latches are selectively inserted to the net list to ensure that signal values can be accessed at runtime. After that, a P&R process is performed, and the outputs are analyzed to correlate signal names to registers (flip-flops and latches) or memory blocks locations in FPGAs. A correlation database is built and kept for runtime use. During runtime, a software component may be provided on a workstation for the user to query signal values corresponding to RTL hierarchical signal names. | 02-28-2013 |
20130047134 | VIEWING AND DEBUGGING HDL DESIGNS HAVING SYSTEMVERILOG INTERFACE CONSTRUCTS - Methods and systems for viewing and debugging HDL designs having SystemVerilog interface constructs are provided. An HDL design code is received, wherein the design code comprises a first module, a second module and a SystemVerilog interface construct. A first object corresponding to the first module, a second object corresponding to the second module and an interface object corresponding to the interface construct are displayed in a schematic view. The interface object is disposed between the first and second objects, and a shape of the interface object is different from that of the first and second objects. The interface signals from the first object to the second object and the interface signals from the second object to the first object pass through the interface object. | 02-21-2013 |
20130035925 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VERSATILE CONTROLLABILITY AND OBSERVABILITY IN PROTOTYPE SYSTEM - A method for emulating a circuit design includes receiving, at an emulation interface, signal values associated with probed signals from a verification module of a custom prototype board which can be described by at least one board description file and can comprise at least one field programmable gate array for emulating the circuit design. The method can also include processing, the probed signal values associated with a portion of the circuit design being emulated, the emulation interface being capable of being configured to provide timing and control information to at least the verification module, and can comprise a controller and a memory device, with the controller being capable of being configured to receive the probed signal values. The method can further include storing the processed information and transmitting it to the host workstation. | 02-07-2013 |
20120304139 | METHOD OF FAST ANALOG LAYOUT MIGRATION - A method of fast analog layout migration from an original layout is disclosed. Various placement constraints, including topology, matching and symmetry are extracted from the schematic or netlist as well as the original layout. In addition, relative placement patterns are extracted from the original layout for matching and symmetry constraints. A constraint hierarchy tree can be built according to the constraints, and relative placement patterns are attached accordingly. By using the constraint hierarchy tree, multiple new placement results are efficiently explored that preserve the relative placement patterns for matching and symmetry constraints. | 11-29-2012 |
20120239370 | WHAT-IF SIMULATION METHODS AND SYSTEMS - What-if simulation methods and systems are provided. A design coding in HDL (Hardware Description Language) and a simulation result corresponding to the design are provided. A what-if design scope and a what-if time window are received. A portion of the design is extracted from the design according to the what-if design scope, and primary input signals are determined during the extraction of the sub-design. Then, what-if simulation data is extracted from the simulation result according to the primary input signals and the what-if time window. A what-if test bench is generated according to the what-if simulation data, wherein the what-if simulation data is read, and the signal values are fed to a simulator according to the what-if test bench. | 09-20-2012 |
20120180014 | METHOD OF CONTEXT-SENSITIVE, TRANS-REFLEXIVE INCREMENTAL DESIGN RULE CHECKING AND ITS APPLICATIONS - A computer-implemented method to perform context-sensitive incremental design rule checking (DRC) for an integrated circuit (IC). An incremental DRC engine checks design rule violations between a set of environment shapes and a set of active shapes. If no design rule violations are found, the set of active shapes will be added into the set of environment shapes. Furthermore, the incremental DRC engine can be embedded into placement tools, routing tools, or interactive layout editing tools to check design rule violations and help generate DRC error free layouts. | 07-12-2012 |
20120084744 | Methods and Systems for Debugging Equivalent Designs Described at Different Design Levels - Methods for debugging designs are provided. First, signal correlation information for signals of a design at least two design level is obtained. Then, design descriptions corresponding to the design at the at least two design levels are loaded and presented in at least two sets of windows or at least two debugging processes which controls the respective set of windows. A selection of a first signal in a first set of windows or a first debugging process is received. In response to the selection, a second signal corresponding to the first signal is queried according to the signal correlation information, and the second signal in a second set of windows or a second debugging process is automatically selected. | 04-05-2012 |
20120066659 | METHODS FOR GENERATING DEVICE LAYOUTS BY COMBINING AN AUTOMATED DEVICE LAYOUT GENERATOR WITH A SCRIPT - Methods for generating a device layout are provided. First, design rules corresponding to a specific technology are received. A selection of at least one element and a parameter value corresponding to at least one parameter on the selected element are received. A draft device layout corresponding to the selected element is generated by a device generator by referencing the parameter value and the design rules. A script is then executed to modify the draft device layout to generate an updated device layout. The script includes at least one command, and when the script is executed, the at least one command is performed to modify the parameter value of the at least one parameter of the selected element and cause the device generator to delete the old draft device layout and generate a new draft device layout by referencing the modified parameter value and the design rules. | 03-15-2012 |
20110320991 | HIERARCHIAL POWER MAP FOR LOW POWER DESIGN - A computer-implemented method for debugging the power aspect of an IC design by integrating the power specification expressed in certain power specification format and its corresponding circuit design within a power schematic diagram called power map. Power map is created by using a power data base generated by regrouping the original circuit design hierarchy to new hierarchies defined by the power specification. Power map contains power cell symbols (such as isolation cells, level shifters, power switches) and signal nets, and can show the relationship between power domains. Power map can also display mismatches or errors between the power specification and the circuit design for those signals connecting the power domains. Furthermore, power map can be used in conjunction with simulation result. | 12-29-2011 |
20110307854 | MANIPULATING PARAMETERIZED CELL DEVICES IN A CUSTOM LAYOUT DESIGN - A system, apparatus and computer-implemented method for manipulating a parameterized cell device into a custom layout design. The method begins by receiving at least one parameterized cell representing a physical circuit from, for example, a database or configuration file. The parameterized cell has a plurality of configurable attributes. The method continues by adjusting one of the configurable attributes of the parameterized cell according to a capability associated with the one attribute. The attributes may include one or more of a parameter mapping capability, a port mapping capability, an abutment capability, a directional extension capability, a channel width capability, and a boundary layer capability. The method then calculates a new configuration for the parameterized cell based upon the adjustment, and applies the new configuration for the parameterized cell to a layout of the represented physical circuit. | 12-15-2011 |
20110283247 | METHOD OF RECORDING AND REPLAYING CALL FRAMES FOR THE TESTBENCH - A computer-implemented method to debug testbench and the associated circuit design by recording a trace of call frames along with the activities of the circuit design. By correlating and displaying the recorded call frames, the method enables users to easily trace the execution history of the subroutines and debug the testbench code. In addition, users can trace the source code of the testbench by using the trace of call frames. Furthermore, users can debug with a virtual simulation, which is done by post-processing the simulation records stored in a database. | 11-17-2011 |
20110251836 | CIRCUIT EMULATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - An apparatus for circuit emulation may include a first circuit board, one or more circuit emulation resource on the first circuit board, a first interconnection interface on the first circuit board, and a second interconnection interface on the first circuit board. The first circuit board may include conductive wiring paths. The circuit emulation resource is on the first circuit board and coupled with a portion of the conductive wiring paths, with each circuit emulation resource being configured to emulate a portion of an electronic circuit by receiving input signals and producing output signals in response to the input signals. The first interconnection interface is on the first circuit board and coupled with at least a first portion of the circuit emulation resource, The first interconnection interface may be configured to couple with an interconnection interface of a second circuit board having a second group of conductive wiring paths and having a second group of circuit emulation resources. The second interconnection interface is on the first circuit board and coupled with at least a second portion of the at least one circuit emulation resource. The second interconnection interface may be configured to couple with an interconnection interface of a third circuit board having a third group of conductive wiring paths and having a third group of circuit emulation resources. | 10-13-2011 |
20110202897 | HIERARCHY-BASED ANALYTICAL PLACEMENT METHOD CAPABLE OF MACRO ROTATION WITHIN AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT - A placer produces a global placement plan specifying positions of cell instances and orientations of macros within an integrated circuit (IC) by initially clusterizing cell instances and macros to form a pyramidal hierarchy of blocks. Then the placer iteratively repeats the declusterization and routability improvement process from the highest level to the lowest level of the hierarchy. An objective function is provided in Cartesian coordinate for representing the position of each movable instance and in polar coordinate for representing the orientation of a macro relative to its the center. For each movable instance and each rotatable macro, its position or orientation is determined by conjugate gradient method to minimize total wire length. Finally, the placer uses a look-ahead legalization technique to rotate rotatable macros to legal orientations and move cell instances to legal positions in the end of global placement. | 08-18-2011 |
20110202894 | Method and Apparatus for Versatile Controllability and Observability in Prototype System - Methods and systems for testing a prototype, the method including receiving, at a first interface component, a configuration parameter associated with a configured image representative of at least a portion of a user design and an associated verification module. The method further includes, sending, using the first interface component, the configured image to a device. A second interface component may be configured to send timing and control information to the verification module based on at least one of the configuration image and runtime control information received from the first interface component. In response to receiving the timing and control information from the second interface component, the verification module may control the device and/or monitor the device state of at least a portion of the user design. | 08-18-2011 |
20100241414 | DEBUGGING SIMULATION WITH PARTIAL DESIGN REPLAY - A virtual platform simulates behavior of a modular circuit based on a circuit design including both high-level and low-level models of circuit modules. A compiler that converts the high-level and low-level models into executable models prior to an initial simulation also generates a separate “replay engine” corresponding to each low-level module for use during subsequent replay simulations. During the initial simulation, the virtual platform simulates circuit behavior by concurrently executing the high-level and low-level executable models and recording data representing behavior of output signals of the low-level design modules modeled by the executable models. To speed up subsequent replays of the simulation, the virtual platform executes one or more of the replay engines in lieu of executing their corresponding low-level executable models. Each executed replay engine simulates behavior of each output signal of a corresponding low-level module in response to the data recorded during the initial simulation representing the behavior of that output signal. | 09-23-2010 |
20100192115 | POWER-AWARE DEBUGGING - A debugging system produces displays in response to an IC design and results of a logic simulation of IC behavior based on the IC design. The IC design includes a hardware description language (HDL) model of the IC describing the IC as comprising cell instances communicating via data signals and power sources for supplying power to the cell instances. The IC design also includes power definition markup language (PDML) model describing a power intent of the IC design. The debugging system generates displays representing HDL code that are annotated to indicate how the power intent of the IC design described by the PDML model relates to the portion of the HDL model represented by the display. The debugging system also generates signals trace displays indicating how both the logic and power intent of the IC design affect the value of a user-selected signal at a user-selected time during the logic simulation. | 07-29-2010 |
20090235219 | HIERARCHICAL ANALOG IC PLACEMENT SUBJECT TO SYMMETRY, MATCHING AND PROXIMITY CONSTRAINTS - A placement tool generates an optimal placement for a plurality of device modules within an analog integrated circuit (IC) subject to device matching, symmetry, and proximity constraints by first defining a multiple-level hierarchy of constraint groups, wherein each constraint group consists of elements that are subject to one of the placement constraints. Each element of each constraint group consists of either of one of the device modules or another one of the constraint groups residing at a lower level of the hierarchy. The tool then generates a hierarchical B*-tree representation of a trial placement for the IC including a separate node representing each constraint group of the hierarchy and a separate node for each of device module not included in any of the constraint groups. Each node representing a constraint group defines relative positions within the IC of each the device modules or lower level constraint groups forming the constraint group that are consistent with the placement constraint on the constraint group. The placement tool iteratively perturbs the hierarchical B*-tree to generate a sequence of trial placements for the IC design and then evaluates a cost function for each trial placement to select a best one of the trial placements as the optimal trial placement. | 09-17-2009 |
20090178013 | SYSTEM FOR IMPLEMENTING POST-SILICON IC DESIGN CHANGES - An engineering change order (ECO) modifying an IC having spare cell instances is implemented by converting active cell instances implementing portions of the IC to be deleted into additional spare cell instances, by creating a technology independent behavioral model of portions of the IC to be added, by selecting spare cell instances to implement the behavior model, and by routing nets to the selected spare cell instances in a way that minimizes a number of metal layers of the IC that are modified. | 07-09-2009 |