IP Library Granted Patent US 9,189,582
Granted Patent B2
US 9,189,582 · App. 14/169,414 · Granted Nov 17, 2015

Programmable pattern aware voltage analysis

Inventors: Sridhar Srinivasan (Tualatin, OR); Mark Hofmann (Portland, OR); Ziyang Lu (Camas, WA)
Assignee: Mentor Graphics Corporation
G06F17/5045G06F17/504G06F17/5054G06F2217/78
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,189,582
App. No.
14/169,414
Granted
Nov 17, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

This application discloses a voltage analysis tool to perform a static power aware analysis on a circuit design without having to simulate the circuit design. The voltage analysis tool can determine a set of components in the circuit design corresponds to a design pattern representing a voltage-transition device, and set an output voltage for the set of components based, at least in part, on characteristics of the voltage-transition device. The voltage analysis tool can propagate the output voltage to other portions of the circuit design, and determine whether the portions of the circuit design receiving the output voltage have a rule violation.

Claims (41)

1. A method comprising:

matching, by a computing system, a set of components in a circuit design to a design pattern representing a voltage-transition device;

determining, by the computing system, a magnitude of an output voltage for the set of components in the circuit design based, at least in part, on a configuration of the voltage-transition device represented by the design pattern that matched the set of components; and

modifying, by the computing system, the circuit design to include the magnitude of the output voltage for the set of components.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

propagating, by the computing system, the magnitude of the output voltage to outputs of other components of the circuit design; and

annotating, by the computing system, the outputs of the other components of the circuit design with the magnitude of the output voltage.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining, by the computing system, whether the at least one of the other components of the circuit design include a rule violation based on the propagation of the magnitude of the output voltage.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying, by the computing system, an input voltage for the set of components, wherein determining the magnitude of the output voltage for the set of components based, at least in part, on the input voltage for the set of components and the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein matching the set of components in the circuit design to the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device further comprising comparing, by the computing system, the design pattern against components in the circuit design to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein matching the set of components in the circuit design to the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device further comprising:

comparing, by the computing system, a hierarchical design pattern including a first pattern and a second pattern to the circuit design to determine the circuit design includes a first device corresponding to the first pattern and a second device corresponding to the second pattern; and

correlating, by the computing device, the first device and the second device to the design pattern to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the circuit design is a netlist of components and their corresponding interconnections, and wherein matching the set of components in the circuit design to the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device further comprises comparing, by the computing system, one or more portions of the netlist to the design pattern to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

8. An apparatus comprising at least one computer-readable memory device storing instructions configured to cause one or more processing devices to perform operations comprising:

matching a set of components in a circuit design to a design pattern representing a voltage-transition device;

determining a magnitude of an output voltage for the set of components in the circuit design based, at least in part, on a configuration of the voltage-transition device represented by the design pattern that matched the set of components; and

modifying the circuit design to include the magnitude of the output voltage for the set of components.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause one or more processing devices to perform operations further comprising:

propagating the magnitude of the output voltage to outputs of other components of the circuit design; and

annotating the outputs of the other components of the circuit design with the magnitude of the output voltage.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause one or more processing devices to perform operations further comprising determining whether the at least one of the other components of the circuit design include a rule violation based on the propagation of the magnitude of the output voltage.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause one or more processing devices to perform operations further comprising identifying an input voltage for the set of components, wherein determining the magnitude of the output voltage for the set of components based, at least in part, on the input voltage for the set of components and the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein matching the set of components in the circuit design to the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device further comprising comparing the design pattern with the circuit design to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein matching the set of components in the circuit design to the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device further comprising:

comparing a hierarchical design pattern including a first pattern and a second pattern to the circuit design to determine the circuit design includes a first device corresponding to the first pattern and a second device corresponding to the second pattern; and

correlating the first device and the second device to the design pattern to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the circuit design is a netlist of components and their corresponding interconnections, and wherein matching the set of components in the circuit design to the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device further comprises comparing one or more portions of the netlist to the design pattern to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

15. A system comprising:

a memory system configured to store computer-executable instructions; and

a computing system including at least one processing device that, in response to execution of the computer-executable instructions, is configured to:

match a set of components in a circuit design to a design pattern representing a voltage-transition device;

determine a magnitude of an output voltage for the set of components in the circuit design based, at least in part, on information associated with the design pattern that matched the set of components; and

modify the circuit design to include the magnitude of the output voltage for the set of components.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computing system, in response to execution of the computer-executable instructions, is further configured to propagate the magnitude of the output voltage to outputs of other components of the circuit design, and annotate the outputs of the other components of the circuit design with the magnitude of the output voltage.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the computing system, in response to execution of the computer-executable instructions, is further configured to determine whether the outputs of the other components of the circuit design include a rule violation based on the propagation of the magnitude of the output voltage.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computing system, in response to execution of the computer-executable instructions, is further configured to determine the magnitude of the output voltage for the set of components based, at least in part, on the input voltage for the set of components and the design pattern representing the voltage-transition device.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computing system, in response to execution of the computer-executable instructions, is further configured to compare the design pattern with the circuit design to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the computing system, in response to execution of the computer-executable instructions, is further configured to:

compare a hierarchical design pattern including a first pattern and a second pattern to the circuit design to determine the circuit design includes a first device corresponding to the first pattern and a second device corresponding to the second pattern; and

correlate the first device and the second device to the design pattern to identify the voltage-transition device in the circuit design.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 12, 2021
From: SRINIVASAN, SRIDHAR; HOFMANN, MARK; LU, ZIYANG
To: MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 057760/0090 →
MERGER AND CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 12, 2021
From: MENTOR GRAPHICS CORPORATION; SIEMENS INDUSTRY SOFTWARE, INC.
To: SIEMENS INDUSTRY SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 057760/0163 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 61869163 · Aug 23, 2013
Related Publication 20150058818A1 · Feb 26, 2015