Method for automatically determining proposed standard cell design conformance based upon template constraints

1. A method for providing a physical pattern that is manufactured as part of a semiconductor integrated circuit, the physical pattern resulting from a cell design determined to be conforming to a set of example-derived template constraints, the method comprising:

(a) deriving a set of template constraints by:

(1) providing, to a programmed computer, a set of at least two exemplary standard cell designs, each exemplary standard cell design comprising a set of layer-assigned polygons, stored in a non-transitory, computer-readable medium;

(2) using the programmed computer to automatically identify spatial relationships between polygons in each of the exemplary standard cell designs, said identification process involving at least one of:

(i) computing a distance or position of a polygon relative to a nearest gate stripe;

(ii) computing a distance or position of a polygon relative to a nearest power or ground rail;

(iii) computing a distance or position of a polygon relative to a boundary of a cell; and

(iv) using a polygon's dimension as an absolute measurement of a distance or position of the polygon;

(3) using the programmed computer and the identified spatial relationships to automatically generate a set of template constraints; and,

(4) storing the generated template constraints in a non-transitory, computer-readable medium using the programmed computer; and,

(b) automatically checking a proposed standard cell design for conformity with the stored template constraints by:

(1) providing, to a programmed computer, the proposed standard cell design as a set of layer-assigned polygons, stored in a non-transitory, computer-readable medium;

(2) using the programmed computer to automatically identify instances of template non-compliance by:

(a) automatically identifying spatial relationships between polygons in the proposed standard cell design, said identification process involving at least one of:

(i) computing a distance or position of a polygon relative to a nearest gate stripe;

(ii) computing a distance or position of a polygon relative to a nearest power or ground rail;

(iii) computing a distance or position of a polygon relative to a boundary of a cell; and

(iv) using a polygon's dimension as an absolute measurement of a distance or position of the polygon;

(b) automatically comparing the identified spatial relationships to the stored template constraints to obtain comparison instances; and,

(c) reporting comparison instances that indicate template non-compliance; and

(c) manufacturing the semiconductor integrated circuit that includes the physical pattern, wherein the physical pattern results from a template-compliant cell design.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein an absolute measurement of a distance or position along the y-axis includes measuring a height of a polygon.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the height of the polygon is measured from a bottom edge of a cell where y=0.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein an absolute measurement of a distance or position along the x-axis includes measuring a width of a polygon.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the width of the polygon is measured from a left or right edge of a cell.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distance or position of a polygon is obtained using a combination of absolute measurement of dimensions of a polygon and computation of relative distance from a known reference point within the cell.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the absolute measurement is along y-axis and the computation of relative distance is along x-axis.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the absolute measurement is along x-axis and the computation of relative distance is along y-axis.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the known reference point within the cell comprises one of: a cell boundary, a power rail, a ground rail, a gate stripe, and, a known coordinate of another polygon.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein one large exemplary standard cell design is used, the large exemplary standard cell containing valid template constraints.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two exemplary standard cell designs are used.