| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080229259 | Design flow for shrinking circuits having non-shrinkable IP layout - A method for processing an integrated circuit is provided. The method includes providing a first integrated circuit having a first scale, wherein the first integrated circuit comprises a shrinkable circuit comprising a first intellectual property (IP) layout, and a non-shrinkable circuit comprising a second IP layout; and generating a second integrated circuit having a second scale smaller than the first scale. The step of generating the second integrated circuit includes shrinking the shrinkable integrated circuit to the second scale. The method further includes merging the second IP layout with the non-shrinkable circuit to generate a final integrated circuit. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080270813 | Mother/daughter switch design with self power-up control - System and method for providing power to integrated circuitry with good power-on responsive time and reduced power-on transient glitches. A preferred embodiment comprises a daughter switch coupled to a circuit block, a first control circuit coupled to the daughter circuit, a second control circuit coupled to the first control circuit, and a mother circuit coupled to the circuit block and to the second control circuit. After the daughter switch is turned on by a control signal, the mother switch is not turned on until the daughter switch has discharged (charged) the voltage potential across power rails of the mother circuit to a point where glitches are minimized. The second control circuit turns on the mother circuit when the reduced voltage potential is reached, with a signal produced by the first control circuit reflects the voltage potential. Furthermore, a bypass circuit can be used to reduce leakage current. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20090282374 | Dummy Pattern Design for Reducing Device Performance Drift - A method of forming an integrated circuit structure on a chip includes extracting an active pattern including a diffusion region; enlarging the active pattern to form a dummy-forbidden region having a first edge and a second edge perpendicular to each other; and adding stress-blocking dummy diffusion regions throughout the chip, which includes adding a first stress-blocking dummy diffusion region adjacent and substantially parallel to the first edge of the dummy-forbidden region; and adding a second stress-blocking dummy diffusion region adjacent and substantially parallel to the second edge of the dummy-forbidden region. The method further includes, after the step of adding the stress-blocking dummy diffusion regions throughout the chip, adding general dummy diffusion regions into remaining spacings of the chip. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090315079 | Layout Architecture for Improving Circuit Performance - An integrated circuit structure includes an integrated circuit structure including a PMOS transistor including a first gate electrode; a first source region; and a first drain region; an NMOS transistor including a second gate electrode, wherein the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode are portions of a gate electrode strip; a second source region; and a second drain region. No additional transistors are formed between the PMOS transistor and the NMOS transistor. The integrated circuit further includes a VDD power rail connected to the first source region; a VSS power rail connected to the second source region; and an interconnection port electrically connected to the gate electrode strip. The interconnection port is on an outer side of a MOS pair region including the PMOS transistor, the NMOS transistor, and the region between the PMOS transistor and the NMOS transistor. The portion of the gate electrode strip in the MOS pair region is substantially straight. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090326873 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DESIGN IN OPTICAL SHRINK TECHNOLOGY NODE - Disclosed is a system, method, and computer-readable medium for designing a circuit and/or IC chip to be provided using an optical shrink technology node. Initial design data may be provided in a first technology node and through the use of embedding scaling factors in one or more EDA tools of the design flow, a design (e.g., mask data) can be generated for the circuit in an optical shrink technology node. Examples of EDA tools in which embedded scaling factors may be provided are simulation models and extraction tools including LPE decks and RC extraction technology files. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100058267 | PLACE-AND-ROUTE LAYOUT METHOD WITH SAME FOOTPRINT CELLS - This invention discloses a method for automatically generating an integrated circuit (IC) layout, the method comprises determining a first cell height, creating a plurality of standard cells all having the first cell height, and generating the IC layout from the plurality of standard cells by placing and routing thereof. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100065913 | Performance-Aware Logic Operations for Generating Masks - A method for forming masks for manufacturing a circuit includes providing a design of the circuit, wherein the circuit comprises a device; performing a first logic operation to determine a first region for forming a first feature of the device; and performing a second logic operation to expand the first feature to a second region greater than the first region. The pattern of the second region may be used to form the masks. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100078725 | Standard Cell without OD Space Effect in Y-Direction - An integrated circuit structure includes a semiconductor substrate; a first active region in the semiconductor substrate; and a second active region in the semiconductor substrate and of an opposite conductivity type than the first active region. A gate electrode strip is over the first and the second active regions and forms a first MOS device and a second MOS device with the first active region and the second active region, respectively. A first spacer bar is in the semiconductor substrate and connected to the first active region. At least a portion of the first spacer bar is adjacent to and spaced apart from a portion of the first active region. A second spacer bar is in the semiconductor substrate and connected to the second active region. At least a portion of the second spacer bar is adjacent to and spaced apart from a portion of the second active region. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100127333 | NOVEL LAYOUT ARCHITECTURE FOR PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT - The present disclosure provides an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes an active region in a semiconductor substrate; a first field effect transistor (FET) disposed in the active region; and an isolation structure disposed in the active region. The FET includes a first gate; a first source formed in the active region and disposed on a first region adjacent the first gate from a first side; and a first drain formed in the active region and disposed on a second region adjacent the first gate from a second side. The isolation structure includes an isolation gate disposed adjacent the first drain; and an isolation source formed in the active region and disposed adjacent the isolation gate such that the isolation source and the first drain are on different sides of the isolation gate. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100164614 | Structure and System of Mixing Poly Pitch Cell Design under Default Poly Pitch Design Rules - An integrated circuit including type-1 cells and a type-2 cell is presented. The type-1 cells have poly lines with a default poly pitch. The type-2 cell has poly lines with a non-default poly pitch. A first boundary region has at least one isolation area that lies between the type-1 cells and the type-2 cell in the X-direction. The first boundary region includes at least one merged dummy poly line, wherein the at least one merged dummy poly line has a first portion that complies with the default poly pitch of the type-1 cells and a second portion that complies with the non-default poly pitch of the type-2 cell. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100174933 | System and Method for Reducing Processor Power Consumption - A system and method for reducing active power in processors is disclosed. A method embodiment comprises the steps of determining when a particular logic block is inactive, determining the powered state of the particular logic block, isolating the particular logic block from a main processor core, and powering off the particular logic block. When the system needs the particular logic block, the method further comprises reactivating the block. A system embodiment comprises software and a processor coupled to a clock control module, an isolation control module and a header/footer module, operable to isolate a particular logic block and power off a particular logic block, thereby reducing power. Another embodiment comprises a logic module coupled to a clock by a clock gating module, an isolation module for isolating the logic module, a header/footer module for disabling power to the logic module, and a power and clock gating control module for controlling the clock gating module and the header/footer module. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100196803 | Methods for Cell Boundary Isolation in Double Patterning Design - A method of designing a double patterning mask set for a layout of a chip includes designing standard cells. In each of the standard cells, all left-boundary patterns are assigned with one of a first indicator and a second indicator, and all right-boundary patterns are assigned with an additional one of the first indicator and the second indicator. The method further includes placing the standard cells in a row of the layout of the chip. Starting from one of the standard cells in the row, indicator changes to the standard cells are propagated throughout the row. All patterns in the standard cells having the first indicator are transferred to a first mask of the double patterning mask set. All patterns in the standard cells having the second indicator are transferred to a second mask of the double patterning mask set. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100199238 | Systematic Method for Variable Layout Shrink - A method for integrated circuit design includes providing a layout of an integrated circuit; determining key parameters of the integrated circuit; determining target values of the key parameters; and performing a first shrinkage of the layout using a first shrink percentage to generate a shrunk layout. The shrunk layout is evaluated by generating values of the key parameters from the shrunk layout. A portion of the values of the key parameters failing to meet respective ones of the target values is found. Guidelines for tuning manufacturing processes of the shrunk layout are provided, so that the portion of the values of the key parameters can meet the respective ones of the target values. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100199253 | Routing Method for Double Patterning Design - A method of designing a double patterning mask set includes dividing a chip into a grid comprising grid cells; and laying out a metal layer of the chip. In substantially each of the grid cells, all left-boundary patterns of the metal layer are assigned with a first one of a first indicator and a second indicator, and all right-boundary patterns of the metal layer are assigned with a second one of the first indicator and the second indicator. Starting from one of the grid cells in a row, indicator changes are propagated throughout the row. All patterns in the grid cells are transferred to the double patterning mask set, with all patterns assigned with the first indicator transferred to a first mask of the double patterning mask set, and all patterns assigned with the second indicator transferred to a second mask of the double patterning mask set. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100205577 | Design Methods for E-Beam Direct Write Lithography - A method of forming integrated circuits for a wafer includes providing an E-Beam direct write (EBDW) system. A grid is generated for the wafer, wherein the grid includes grid lines. An integrated circuit is laid out for the wafer, wherein substantially no sensitive features in the integrated circuit cross the grid lines of the grid. An EBDW is performed on the wafer using the EBDW system. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100269081 | Standard Cells Having Flexible Layout Architecture/Boundaries - An integrated circuit layout includes a standard cell, which includes a first gate strip and a second gate strip parallel to each other and having a gate pitch; a first boundary and a second boundary on opposite ends of the first standard cell; and a third boundary and a fourth boundary on opposite ends of the first standard cell and parallel to the first gate strip and the second gate strip. A cell pitch between the third boundary and the fourth boundary is not equal to integer times the gate pitch. A PMOS transistor is formed of the first gate strip and a first active region. An NMOS transistor is formed of the first gate strip and a second active region. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100281446 | Integrated Circuit Design using DFM-Enhanced Architecture - Integrated circuit libraries include a first standard cell having a first left boundary and a first right boundary, and a second standard cell having a second left boundary and a second right boundary. The first standard cell and the second standard cell are of a same cell variant. A first active region in the first standard cell has a different length of diffusion than a second active region in the second standard cell. The first active region and the second active region are corresponding active regions represented by a same component of a same circuit diagram representing both the first standard cell and the second standard cell. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100293514 | DESIGN-DRIVEN METAL CRITICAL DIMENSION (CD) BIASING - A method of designing an integrated circuit (“IC”) is provided that includes placing an IC design, where the IC design includes a first element, a second element, and a path coupling the first and second elements, and routing the IC design. Further, the method includes obtaining at least one of resistivity data and capacitance data related to the path, and obtaining timing data related to the path. The method also includes using at least one of the resistivity data, the capacitance data, and the timing data to determine a critical dimension (“CD”) bias to be applied to the path, and modifying the IC design, where modifying includes applying the CD bias to the path. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20110023002 | DOUBLE PATTERNING FRIENDLY LITHOGRAPHY METHOD AND SYSTEM - A method includes receiving an identification of a plurality of cells to be included in an integrated circuit (IC) layout, including a list of pairs of cells within the plurality of cells to be connected to each other. First routing paths are identified, to connect a maximum number of the pairs of cells using one-dimensional (1-D) routing between cells within those pairs of cells. Second routing paths are selected from a predetermined set of two-dimensional (2-D) routing patterns to connect any of the pairs of cells which cannot be connected by 1-D routing. The first and second routing paths are output to a machine readable storage medium to be read by a control system for controlling a semiconductor fabrication process to fabricate the IC. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110035715 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ON-CHIP-VARIATION ANALYSIS - Apparatus is provided for performing timing analysis on a circuit. A first storage device portion stores a state dependent stage weight for each of a rising time arc and a falling time arc of each of a plurality of cells in a cell library. An adder is provided for calculating a sum of the state dependent stage weights for each of the cells that are included in a circuit path. A second storage device portion stores a table containing on chip variation (OCV) derating factors. The table is indexed by values of the sum. A total path delay is calculated for the circuit path, based on the OCV derating factor corresponding to the sum of the state dependent stage weights for the cells in the circuit path. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110035717 | Design Optimization for Circuit Migration - An embodiment of the present invention is a computer program product for providing an adjusted electronic representation of an integrated circuit layout. The computer program product has a medium with a computer program embodied thereon. Further, the computer program comprises computer program code for providing full node cells from a full node netlist, computer program code for scaling the full node cells to provide shrink node cells, computer program code for providing a timing performance of the full node cells and the shrink node cells, computer program code for comparing the timing performance of the full node cells to the timing performance of the shrink node cells, and computer program code for providing a first netlist. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110072405 | Chip-Level ECO Shrink - In a method of forming an integrated circuit, a layout of a chip representation including a first intellectual property (IP) is provided. Cut lines that overlap, and extend out from, edges of the first IP, are generated. The cut lines divide the chip representation into a plurality of circuit regions. The plurality of circuit regions are shifted outward with relative to a position of the first IP to generate a space. The first IP is blown out into the space to generate a blown IP. A direct shrink is then performed. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110119648 | ROUTING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DOUBLE PATTERNING TECHNOLOGY - A method includes receiving an identification of a plurality of circuit components to be included in an IC layout. Data are generated representing a first pattern to connect two of the circuit components. The first pattern has a plurality of segments. At least two of the segments have lengthwise directions perpendicular to each other. At least one pattern-free region is reserved adjacent to at least one of the at least two segments. Data are generated representing one or more additional patterns near the first pattern. None of the additional patterns is formed in the pattern-free region. The first pattern and the additional patterns form a double-patterning compliant set of patterns. The double-patterning compliant set of patterns are output to a machine readable storage medium to be read by a system for controlling a process to fabricate a pair of masks for patterning a semiconductor substrate using double patterning technology. | 05-19-2011 |
