Patent US5726903A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5726903A
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Method and apparatus for resolving conflicts between cell substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool
Assignee: Unisys Corp
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Filing: 1996-02-07
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Granted: 1998-03-10
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Expires: 2016-02-07
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for efficiently identifying and resolving conflicts between conflicting cell substitution recommendations. Unlike the prior art, the present invention provides a resolving means within a data processing system to identify and resolve conflicting cell substitution recommendations. The resolving means may categorize the cell substitutions in accordance with a number of predetermined cell substitution types, wherein each of the cell substitution type may be assign a predetermined priority value. Thereafter, the resolving means may identify conflicting cell substitution recommendations, and resolve the conflicts in accordance with the predetermined priority scheme.
Inventors
- 👤 Joseph P. Kerzman
- 👤 Douglas A. Fuller
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 18:33
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F30/00; G06F30/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 60
Claim 1
Independent Claim
154 words
A data processing system for resolving conflicts between conflicting component substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool, the drive strength adjust tool operating on a circuit design wherein the circuit design is represented in a circuit design database including a number of components selected from a component library, selected components of the component library having at least one corresponding logically equivalent component with a different drive strength, the drive strength adjust tool providing a first recommendation to substitute a first component within the circuit design database with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a first drive strength, and also providing a second recommendation for substituting the first component with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a second drive strength thereby resulting in a conflict, the data processing system comprising: a. resolving means for resolving the conflict; and b. providing means coupled to said resolving means for providing a resolved component substitution recommendation.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
154 words
A data processing system for resolving conflicts between conflicting component substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool, the drive strength adjust tool operating on a circuit design wherein the circuit design is represented in a circuit design database including a number of components selected from a component library, selected components of the component library having at least one corresponding logically equivalent component with a different drive strength, the drive strength adjust tool providing a first recommendation to substitute a first component within the circuit design database with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a first drive strength, and also providing a second recommendation for substituting the first component with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a second drive strength thereby resulting in a conflict, the data processing system comprising: a. resolving means for resolving the conflict; and b. providing means coupled to said resolving means for providing a resolved component substitution recommendation.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
A data processing system according to claim 1 further comprising substituting means coupled to said providing means for substituting the first component in accordance with the resolved component substitution recommendation.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
38 words
A data processing system according to claim 1 wherein said drive strength adjust tool provides a first recommendation type that is associated with the first recommendation, and a second recommendation type that is associated with the second recommendation.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
A data processing system according to claim 3 wherein said drive strength adjust tool assigns a first priority to the first recommendation type and a second priority to the second recommendation type.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
28 words
A data processing system according to claim 4 wherein said resolving means resolves the conflict by selecting the recommendation having an associated recommendation type with the highest priority.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
A data processing system according to claim 4 wherein all recommendations of the first recommendation type are stored to a first substitution file within the data processing system, and all recommendations of the second recommendation type are stored to a second substitution file within the data processing system.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
A data processing system according to claim 6 wherein said resolving means includes merging means for merging the first substitution file with the second substitution file, and for providing a resulting accumulated cell substitution file.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
41 words
A data processing system according to claim 7 wherein said merging means merges the first substitution file with the second substitution file, and only provides the recommendation having the recommendation type with the highest priority to the accumulated cell substitution file.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
A data processing system according to claim 8 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by a circuit floor planning tool.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
26 words
A data processing system according to claim 8 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by a circuit place and route tool.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
24 words
A data processing system according to claim 8 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by a timing analysis tool.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
25 words
A data processing system according to claim 8 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by an RC file generator tool.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
68 words
A data processing system according to claim 6 wherein the first substitution file includes a number of entries corresponding to selected components in the circuit design database wherein each entry is a recommendation of the first recommendation type, and the second substitution file includes a number of entries corresponding to selected components in the circuit design database wherein each entry is a recommendation of the second recommendation type.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
65 words
A data processing system according to claim 13 further including appending means for appending a first priority value to each of the number of entries in the first substitution file thereby resulting in a first appended substitution file, and for appending a second priority value to each of the number of entries in the second substitution file thereby resulting in a second appended substitution file.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
A data processing system according to claim 14 further comprising concatenating means coupled to said appending means for concatenating the first appended substitution file and the second appended substitution file, thereby resulting in a concatenated substitution file having a number of entries.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
49 words
A data processing system according to claim 15 further comprising sorting means coupled to said concatenating means for sorting the number of entries in the concatenated substitution file, said sorting means sorting the number of entries first by component and then by priority and providing a sorted substitution file.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
37 words
A data processing system according to claim 16 further comprising deleting means coupled to said sorting means for deleting duplicate entries that correspond to the same component from the sorted substitution file, except the highest priority entry.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
A data processing system according to claim 3 wherein a first drive strength adjust tool provides the first recommendation having the first recommendation type and a second drive strength adjust tool provides the second recommendation having the second recommendation type.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
50 words
A data processing system according to claim 18 wherein said second drive strength adjust tool detects a timing violation within the circuit design database and provides the second recommendation to substitute the first component with the corresponding logically equivalent component having the second drive strength to mitigate the timing violation.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
16 words
A data processing system according to claim 19 wherein said timing violation is a setup violation.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
16 words
A data processing system according to claim 19 wherein said timing violation is a hold violation.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
18 words
A data processing system according to claim 19 wherein said timing violation is a minimum rise time violation.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
A data processing system according to claim 19 wherein said timing violation is a minimum fall time violation.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
50 words
A data processing system according to claim 18 wherein said first drive strength adjust tool detects a physical violation within the circuit design database and provides the first recommendation to substitute the first component with the corresponding logically equivalent component having the first drive strength to mitigate the physical violation.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
18 words
A data processing system according to claim 24 wherein said physical violation is a maximum line length violation.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
17 words
A data processing system according to claim 24 wherein said physical violation is a maximum cross-talk violation.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
17 words
A data processing system according to claim 24 wherein said physical violation is a maximum capacitance violation.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
156 words
A method for resolving conflicts between conflicting component substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool, the drive strength adjust tool operating on a circuit design wherein the circuit design is represented in a circuit design database including a number of components selected from a component library, selected components of the component library having at least one corresponding logically equivalent component with a different drive strength, the drive strength adjust tool providing a first recommendation to substitute a first component within the circuit design database with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a first drive strength, and also providing a second recommendation for substituting the first component with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a second drive strength thereby resulting in a conflict, the method comprising the steps of: a. resolving the conflict within a data processing system; and b. providing a resolved component substitution recommendation to a storage element within the data processing system.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
156 words
A method for resolving conflicts between conflicting component substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool, the drive strength adjust tool operating on a circuit design wherein the circuit design is represented in a circuit design database including a number of components selected from a component library, selected components of the component library having at least one corresponding logically equivalent component with a different drive strength, the drive strength adjust tool providing a first recommendation to substitute a first component within the circuit design database with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a first drive strength, and also providing a second recommendation for substituting the first component with a corresponding logically equivalent component having a second drive strength thereby resulting in a conflict, the method comprising the steps of: a. resolving the conflict within a data processing system; and b. providing a resolved component substitution recommendation to a storage element within the data processing system.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 28 further comprising the step of substituting the first component in accordance with the resolved component substitution recommendation.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to claim 28 wherein said drive strength adjust tool provides a first recommendation type that is associated with the first recommendation, and a second recommendation type that is associated with the second recommendation.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein said drive strength adjust tool assigns a first priority to the first recommendation type and a second priority to the second recommendation type.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method according to claim 31 wherein said resolving step resolves the conflict by selecting the recommendation having an associated recommendation type with the highest priority.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 31 wherein all recommendations of the first recommendation type are stored to a first substitution file within the data processing system, and all recommendations of the second recommendation type are stored to a second substitution file within the data processing system.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method according to claim 33 wherein said resolving step further includes a merging step for merging the first substitution file with the second substitution file, and for providing a resulting accumulated cell substitution file.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method according to claim 34 wherein said merging step merges the first substitution file with the second substitution file, and only providing the recommendation having the recommendation type with the highest priority to the accumulated cell substitution file.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 34 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by a circuit floor planning tool.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method according to claim 34 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by a circuit place and route tool.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method according to claim 34 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by a timing analysis tool.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 34 wherein the accumulated cell substitution file is formatted to be read by an RC file generator tool.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
66 words
A method according to claim 33 wherein the first substitution file includes a number of entries corresponding to selected components in the circuit design database wherein each entry is a recommendation of the first recommendation type, and the second substitution file includes a number of entries corresponding to selected components in the circuit design database wherein each entry is a recommendation of the second recommendation type.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
64 words
A method according to claim 40 further including an appending step for appending a first priority value to each of the number of entries in the first substitution file thereby resulting in a first appended substitution file, and for appending a second priority value to each of the number of entries in the second substitution file thereby resulting in a second appended substitution file.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to claim 41 further comprising a concatenating step for concatenating the first appended substitution file and the second appended substitution file, thereby resulting in a concatenated substitution file having a number of entries.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method according to claim 42 further comprising a sorting step for sorting the number of entries in the concatenated substitution file, said sorting means sorting the number of entries first by component and then by priority and providing a sorted substitution file.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method according to claim 43 further comprising a deleting step for deleting duplicate entries that correspond to the same component from the sorted substitution file, except the highest priority entry.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
38 words
A method according to claim 30 wherein a first drive strength adjust tool provides the first recommendation having the first recommendation type and a second drive strength adjust tool provides the second recommendation having the second recommendation type.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method according to claim 45 wherein said second drive strength adjust tool detects a timing violation within the circuit design database and provides the second recommendation to substitute the first component with the corresponding logically equivalent component having the second drive strength to mitigate the timing violation.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method according to claim 46 wherein said timing violation is a setup violation.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
14 words
A method according to claim 46 wherein said timing violation is a hold violation.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 46 wherein said timing violation is a minimum rise time violation.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 46 wherein said timing violation is a minimum fall time violation.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
48 words
A method according to claim 45 wherein said first drive strength adjust tool detects a physical violation within the circuit design database and provides the first recommendation to substitute the first component with the corresponding logically equivalent component having the first drive strength to mitigate the physical violation.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 51 wherein said physical violation is a maximum line length violation.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method according to claim 51 wherein said physical violation is a maximum cross-talk violation.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
15 words
A method according to claim 51 wherein said physical violation is a maximum capacitance violation.
Claim 57
Independent Claim
165 words
A method for resolving conflicts between conflicting component substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool, the drive strength adjust tool providing a number of component substitution recommendations for selected components in a circuit design database in response to a number of violations reported by a verification tool, wherein each of the number violations has a corresponding violation type, the method comprising the steps of: a. incorporating the number of component substitution recommendations into a number of cell substitution lists wherein each of the number of cell substitution lists include all component substitution recommendations that correspond to a particular violation type; b. assigning a priority to each of the number of cell substitution lists; c. concatenating the number of cell substitution lists, thereby resulting in a concatenated cell substitution list; d. sorting the concatenated cell substitution list, thereby resulting in a sorted cell substitution list; and e. deleting duplicate entries from the sorted cell substitution list, except for the highest priority component substitution recommendation.
Claim 58
Independent Claim
165 words
A method for resolving conflicts between conflicting component substitution recommendations provided by a drive strength adjust tool, the drive strength adjust tool providing a number of component substitution recommendations for selected components in a circuit design database in response to a number of violations reported by a verification tool, wherein each of the number violations has a corresponding violation type, the method comprising the steps of: a. incorporating the number of component substitution recommendations into a number of cell substitution lists wherein each of the number of cell substitution lists include all component substitution recommendations that correspond to a particular violation type; b. assigning a priority to each of the number of cell substitution lists; c. concatenating the number of cell substitution lists, thereby resulting in a concatenated cell substitution list; d. sorting the concatenated cell substitution list, thereby resulting in a sorted cell substitution list; and e. deleting duplicate entries from the sorted cell substitution list, except for the highest priority component substitution recommendation.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
40 words
A method according to claim 55 wherein the assigning step further comprising the step of appending the priority assigned to each of the number of cell substitution lists to each component substitution recommendation included in the corresponding cell substitution list.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method according to claim 56 wherein said sorting step sorts the concatenated cell substitution list first by component and then by priority.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-03-09 | 2001-09-08 | 2002-03-10 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-03-09 | 2005-09-08 | 2006-03-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-03-09 | 2009-09-08 | 2010-03-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |