US6721922B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
System for electronic circuit characterization, analysis, modeling and plan development
Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Inc
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Filing: 2001-09-27
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Granted: 2004-04-13
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Expires: 2021-09-27
Abstract
Abstract A system is herein disclosed which allows for the interactive design and analysis of analog and mixed-signal circuits. Circuits may additionally be characterized and verified without leaving the environment provided by the system. The system may be used to analyze multiple circuit designs at the same time. In this manner a designer can create a test that sweeps over several circuit designs. Embodiments of the invention may be integrated with other circuit design tools and development systems.
Inventors
- 👤 Don Walters
- 👤 Paul Foster
- 👤 Tina Najibi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 03:30
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F30/00; G06F30/30; G06F30/32; G06F30/33; G06F30/36; G06F30/367
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 38
Claim 1
Independent Claim
139 words
A system having an integrated environment for the development and analysis of electronic circuits, comprising a user interface which allows a user to interact with the system; a plurality of simulation tools; a circuit design interface for inputting a circuit design; a model specification tool which allows said user to specify a computational model to be used for analysis of said circuit design; and, a plan specification tool which allows said user to specify a plan to be used with said computational model in analyzing, characterizing, or verifying said circuit design; and, wherein said plan can be selected by the user from a library of plans, and wherein each of said plans within said library of plans define the steps which must be followed in using said simulation tools to any of analyze, characterize, or verify the circuit design.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
139 words
A system having an integrated environment for the development and analysis of electronic circuits, comprising a user interface which allows a user to interact with the system; a plurality of simulation tools; a circuit design interface for inputting a circuit design; a model specification tool which allows said user to specify a computational model to be used for analysis of said circuit design; and, a plan specification tool which allows said user to specify a plan to be used with said computational model in analyzing, characterizing, or verifying said circuit design; and, wherein said plan can be selected by the user from a library of plans, and wherein each of said plans within said library of plans define the steps which must be followed in using said simulation tools to any of analyze, characterize, or verify the circuit design.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said circuit design interface allows said user to import said circuit design into said integrated environment.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 2 wherein said circuit design is in the form of a netlist.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 1 further comprising a circuit design tool wherein said circuit design is input by said user via said design tool.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
14 words
The system of claim 1 wherein the model is a Silicon Calibrated Behavioral Model.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
10 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said model is user-defined.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 1 further comprising a plan library wherein said plan specification tool allows said user to select said plan from said plan library.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 1 wherein said plan specification tool allows a user to define said plan.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
89 words
A system for circuit analysis, characterization, and verification, comprising: a user interface; a plurality of simulation tools; a plan creation wizard accessed by said user interface and configured to prompt the user to enter selections that are then used to create or modify a plan; and, a set of plans accessed either from within or without the user interface, wherein each of said set of plans defines the steps to be taken for a process including one of analyzing, characterizing, or verifying a particular circuit or device under test.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
89 words
A system for circuit analysis, characterization, and verification, comprising: a user interface; a plurality of simulation tools; a plan creation wizard accessed by said user interface and configured to prompt the user to enter selections that are then used to create or modify a plan; and, a set of plans accessed either from within or without the user interface, wherein each of said set of plans defines the steps to be taken for a process including one of analyzing, characterizing, or verifying a particular circuit or device under test.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 9 wherein the plan is a PERL script.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
93 words
The system of claim 9 , wherein said set of plans includes one or more of a characterization plan, including a script and associated tests that define the steps necessary to create characterization results; a model generation plan, including a script and associated tests that define the steps necessary to generate a silicon calibrated behavioral model for a target circuit or device under test; and, a synthesis plan, including a script, associated tests, and netlist elements that define the steps necessary to create a class of circuit that meets a specified performance criteria.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 9 wherein the plan may be executed by the user from within the user interface.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 9 wherein the plan may be executed by the user outside of and independently of the user interface, using a command-line interface.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 9 including projects, said projects associated with tools.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
204 words
A system for interactive analysis, characterization, and verification of electronic circuits, for use in electronic circuit design, comprising: a user interface that allows a user to interact with the system and to create, modify, and execute plans; a plurality of simulation tools that are used to analyze, simulate, and create electronic circuits or devices; a library that includes information defining cells and views associated therewith, wherein each cell represents a portion of the circuit or device being analyzed, and wherein each view contains a collection of files that represent a specific representation of said cell, and further wherein said specific representation is understood by one or more of said plurality of simulation tools; a plan creation wizard accessed by said user interface and configured to prompt the user to enter selections that are then used to create or modify a plan, said prompts including requests for user input or allowing the user to map characterization results to core model parameters; and, a set of plans accessed either from within or without the user interface, wherein each of said set of plans defines the steps to be taken for a process including one of analyzing, characterizing, or verifying a particular circuit or device under test.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
204 words
A system for interactive analysis, characterization, and verification of electronic circuits, for use in electronic circuit design, comprising: a user interface that allows a user to interact with the system and to create, modify, and execute plans; a plurality of simulation tools that are used to analyze, simulate, and create electronic circuits or devices; a library that includes information defining cells and views associated therewith, wherein each cell represents a portion of the circuit or device being analyzed, and wherein each view contains a collection of files that represent a specific representation of said cell, and further wherein said specific representation is understood by one or more of said plurality of simulation tools; a plan creation wizard accessed by said user interface and configured to prompt the user to enter selections that are then used to create or modify a plan, said prompts including requests for user input or allowing the user to map characterization results to core model parameters; and, a set of plans accessed either from within or without the user interface, wherein each of said set of plans defines the steps to be taken for a process including one of analyzing, characterizing, or verifying a particular circuit or device under test.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 15 wherein the plan is a PERL script.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
93 words
The system of claim 15 , wherein said set of plans includes one or more of a characterization plan, including a script and associated tests that define the steps necessary to create characterization results; a model generation plan, including a script and associated tests that define the steps necessary to generate a silicon calibrated behavioral model for a target circuit or device under test; and, a synthesis plan, including a script, associated tests, and netlist elements that define the steps necessary to create a class of circuit that meets a specified performance criteria.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
19 words
The system of claim 15 wherein the plan may be executed by the user from within the user interface.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 15 wherein the plan may be executed by the user outside of and independently of the user interface, using a command-line interface.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
12 words
The system of claim 15 including projects associated with said simulation tools.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
153 words
A system providing a design environment for the analysis, characterization, verification, and model generation of electronic circuits, for use in electronic circuit design, comprising: an intuitive user interface that allows a user to interact with the system; a schematic capture environment tightly integrated within the design environment and with said graphical user interface that allows the user to reference and to work with one or a plurality of circuit designs; a plurality of simulation tools; a specification sheet tool, operable via said graphical user interface, that manages data from simulations to be performed on a circuit design, and presents the user with a pass/fail status of tests run by said plurality of simulation tools on said circuit design; and, a plan building tool for use in developing plans, wherein said plans define the steps which must be followed in using said simulation tools to any of analyze, characterize, or verify the circuit design.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
153 words
A system providing a design environment for the analysis, characterization, verification, and model generation of electronic circuits, for use in electronic circuit design, comprising: an intuitive user interface that allows a user to interact with the system; a schematic capture environment tightly integrated within the design environment and with said graphical user interface that allows the user to reference and to work with one or a plurality of circuit designs; a plurality of simulation tools; a specification sheet tool, operable via said graphical user interface, that manages data from simulations to be performed on a circuit design, and presents the user with a pass/fail status of tests run by said plurality of simulation tools on said circuit design; and, a plan building tool for use in developing plans, wherein said plans define the steps which must be followed in using said simulation tools to any of analyze, characterize, or verify the circuit design.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system of claim 21 wherein said plan building tool allows a user to run the simulation tools outside the user interface.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
The system of claim 21 wherein said plurality of simulation tools includes a documentation tool that allows a user to create design documentation and to keep that documentation with the design setup.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 21 wherein said plurality of simulation tools includes a set of advanced analysis tools including sweeps, corners, monte carlo and optimization, that work on one or many different circuit designs simultaneously.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system of claim 21 wherein said plurality of simulation tools includes a calibration tool to calibrate a behavioral model to match the results of the original circuit design.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 21 wherein said plurality of simulation tools includes a behavioral model tool that automatically creates a behavioral model and everything required to calibrate, characterize and verify that model using only high level information from the circuit designer or user.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 21 wherein the simulation environment can work with multiple circuit and mixed-signal simulators.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 21 further comprising: a circuit design interface that allows said user to reference said circuit designs into said integrated environment.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 28 wherein said circuit designs are in the form of text netlists or schematics.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 26 wherein the model generation tool allows said user to create a user-defined model.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 21 further comprising: a plan library wherein said plan building tool allows said user to select said plan from said plan library.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
17 words
The system of claim 31 wherein said plan building tool allows a user to define said plan.
Claim 37
Independent Claim
115 words
A system for use with a circuit simulation environment that includes a plurality of simulation tools, for use in circuit design analysis, comprising: a user interface that allows a user to interact with the system and with a spec sheet; a spec sheet, operable by said user using the user interface, that manages the data from simulations being performed on a particular circuit design, and presents the user with a pass/fail status of tests run on said particular circuit design; and, a plan building tool for use in developing plans, wherein said plans define the steps which must be followed in using said simulation tools to any of analyze, characterize, or verify the circuit design.
Claim 38
Independent Claim
115 words
A system for use with a circuit simulation environment that includes a plurality of simulation tools, for use in circuit design analysis, comprising: a user interface that allows a user to interact with the system and with a spec sheet; a spec sheet, operable by said user using the user interface, that manages the data from simulations being performed on a particular circuit design, and presents the user with a pass/fail status of tests run on said particular circuit design; and, a plan building tool for use in developing plans, wherein said plans define the steps which must be followed in using said simulation tools to any of analyze, characterize, or verify the circuit design.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2007-04-13 | 2007-10-13 | 2008-04-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-04-13 | 2011-10-13 | 2012-04-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-04-13 | 2015-10-13 | 2016-04-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |