Using a machine-trained network to perform physical design
A method of some embodiments receives an initial first physical design of a circuit. The method uses a machine-trained network to generate a second physical design that is a prediction of how the first physical design will look at a subsequent manufacturing stage. The method then uses the second physical design to modify the first physical design. Examples of such modifications include modifying a set of one or more routes in the first physical design and/or modifying a set of placement locations of a set of one or more sub-circuits or circuit components defined in the first physical design.
1 . A method for performing physical design, the method comprising:
receiving a first physical design layout that specifies a design for at least a portion of an integrated circuit (IC) that is to be manufactured;
supplying the first physical design to a machine-trained network that generates a second physical design layout that is a prediction of how the first physical design layout will be produced when manufactured as an IC on a wafer; and
using the second physical design layout to modify the first physical design layout, said using the second physical design layout comprising using a router to modify a set of one or more routes defined in the first physical design layout, wherein after the physical design is completed and a final physical design layout is produced, a set of one or more masks are produced based on the final physical design layout and a set of lithographic processes use the produced set of masks to manufacture the IC.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein using the second physical design layout further comprises:
generating a display of the second physical design layout for a designer to review;
receiving, through a user interface, modifications to the first physical design layout; and
modifying the first physical design layout based on the received modifications,
wherein the designer reviews the generated display to determine whether the second physical design layout meets a set of one or more design considerations.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein using the second physical design layout further comprises using a placer to perform a set of placement operations that modify locations of a set of circuit components in the physical design.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein using the second physical design layout further comprises using the second physical design layout to determine whether a set of one or more design constraints has been met,
wherein using the router comprises modifying the set of one or more routes defined in the first physical design layout after determining that the second physical design layout does not meet a design constraint in the set of design constraints.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein using the second physical design layout further comprises:
using the second physical design layout to compute a physical design cost for the first physical design layout; and
using the computed cost to determine whether a set of one or more changes to the first physical design layout should be accepted.
6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving a set of manufacturing parameters for manufacturing the IC based on the first physical design layout; and
using the set of manufacturing parameters to define a set of parameters of the machine-trained network before the machine-trained network is used to generate the second physical design layout.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the set of manufacturing parameters comprises a set of manufacturing variances that expresses a range of one or more variations in using a particular manufacturing process to manufacture design components according to the first physical design layout.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the set of manufacturing variances comprises a set of variations in a set of manufacturing processes used to manufacture the IC from the first physical design layout.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the set of manufacturing processes comprises a set of processes to manufacture the set of masks used to fabricate the IC.
10 . The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a set of manufacturing parameters for manufacturing the IC based on the first physical design layout,
wherein supplying the first physical design to the machine-trained network comprises using the set of manufacturing parameters along with the first physical design layout as inputs to the machine-trained network in order to generate the second physical design layout.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the set of manufacturing parameters comprises a set of manufacturing variances that expresses a range of one or more variations in using a particular manufacturing process to manufacture design components according to the first physical design layout.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine-trained network produces an output that comprises the second physical design layout.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine-trained network produces a set of parameters, the method further comprising using the set of parameters produced by the machine-trained network to generate the second physical design layout.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the set of parameters express one or more manufacturing ranges, each manufacturing range expressing a range of variations for manufacturing one component in the first physical design layout.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein;
the first and second physical design layouts each comprises a plurality of shapes of a plurality of design components;
a group of shapes in the second physical design layout represent predicted manufactured shapes of a group of shapes in the first physical design layout; and
using the second physical design layout further comprises determining whether one or more shapes in the second physical design layout satisfy one or more design considerations.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the design considerations are design constraints and the determination comprises determining whether one or more shapes in the second physical design layout violate one or more design constraints.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the design constraints comprise a set of capacitance constraints.
18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the design constraints comprise a set of distance constraints.
19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein determining whether one or more shapes in the second physical design layout satisfy one or more design considerations comprises:
providing a display of the second physical design layout and identifying a set of locations in the second physical design layout that should be reviewed to assess whether a set of shapes at the identified set of locations satisfy design considerations.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein using the second physical design layout further comprises:
receiving user input regarding a group of locations in the second physical design layout that should be modified;
identifying a group of locations in the first physical design layout that corresponds to the group of locations in the second physical design layout; and
modifying the first physical design layout at the identified group of locations in the first physical design layout.
21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine-trained network receives one or more patterns as inputs and produces an output that represents a transformed pattern for each input pattern, each transformed pattern representing a predicted manufactured appearance of its corresponding input pattern.
22 . A method for performing physical design, the method comprising:
receiving a first physical design;
using a machine-trained network to generate a second physical design that is a prediction of how the first physical design will be produced at a subsequent manufacturing stage; and
using the second physical design to modify the first physical design, wherein said modifying the first physical design comprises using a router to modify a set of one or more routes defined in the first physical design by defining a new route for at least one net in the first physical design.
23 . A method for performing physical design, the method comprising:
receiving a first physical design;
using a machine-trained network to generate a second physical design that is a prediction of how the first physical design will be produced at a subsequent manufacturing stage; and
using the second physical design to modify the first physical design, wherein said modifying the first physical design comprises using a placer to modify a set of placement locations in the first physical design of a set of one or more circuits defined in the first physical design.