Granted Patent B2

US 7,260,803 · App. 10/683,369 · Granted Aug 21, 2007

Abstract

Claims (43)

1. A method for performing dummy metal insertion in design data for an integrated circuit, which includes dummy metal objects inserted by a dummy fill tool, comprising:

(a) after a portion of the design data is changed, performing a check to determine whether any dummy metal objects intersect with any other objects in the design data; and

(b) deleting the intersecting dummy metal objects from the design data, thereby avoiding having to rerun the dummy fill tool.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein step (a) further includes: prior to implementing the change, saving the dummy metal objects from the design data to a file.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein step (a) further includes: performing the check by accessing the dummy metal objects in the file.

4. The method of claim 3 further including:

reloading remaining dummy metal objects from the file to the design data.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein step (a) further includes:

performing the check by on the dummy metal objects in the file by,

(i) annotating each dummy metal object with an attribute that identifies it as dummy metal, and

(ii) examining nets of respective wires, and determining if a net identified as dummy metal intersects with a net of a different name.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein step (b) further includes:

(iii) deleting from the file any net identified as dummy metal that intersects with a net of a different name.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein step (b) further includes:

(iii) flagging in the file any net identified as dummy metal that intersects with a net of a different name.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein step (c) further includes: not reloading any flagged dummy metal from the file.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein step (a) further includes: changing the portion of the design data by implementing an engineering change order (ECO).

10. The method of claim 9 further including:

performing a stream-out process;

invoking a rule checker tool using a modified rule check to determine whether an output of the stream-out includes any dummy metal objects that intersect with design objects; and

deleting the dummy metal objects that intersect with design objects.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the modified rule check uses the dummy metal identifications to determine existence of intersections between dummy metal and the design objects.

12. A computer readable medium containing program instructions for performing dummy metal insertion in design data for an integrated circuit, which includes dummy metal objects inserted by a dummy fill tool, the program instructions comprising instructions for:

(a) after a portion of the design data is changed, performing a check to determine whether any dummy metal objects intersect with any other objects in the design data; and

(b) deleting the intersecting dummy metal objects from the design data, thereby avoiding having to rerun the dummy fill tool.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 wherein instruction (a) further includes an instruction of: prior to implementing the change, saving the dummy metal objects from the design data to a file.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein instruction (a) further includes an instruction of: performing the check by accessing the dummy metal objects in the file.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14 further including an instruction of:

(c) reloading remaining dummy metal objects from the file to the design data.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein instruction (a) further includes an instruction of: performing the check by on the dummy metal objects in the file by,

(i) annotating each dummy metal object with an attribute that identifies it as dummy metal, and

(ii) examining nets of respective wires, and determining if a net identified as dummy metal intersects with a net of a different name.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein instruction (b) further includes an instruction of:

(iii) deleting from the file any net identified as dummy metal that intersects with a net of a different name.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein instruction (b) further includes an instruction of:

(iii) flagging in the file any net identified as dummy metal that intersects with a net of a different name.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein instruction (c) further includes an instruction of: not reloading any flagged dummy metal from the file.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 wherein instruction (a) further includes an instruction of: changing the portion of the design data by implementing an engineering change order (ECO).

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including instructions of:

(d) performing a stream-out process;

(e) invoking a rule checker tool using a modified rule check to determine whether an output of the stream-out includes any dummy metal objects that intersect with design objects; and

(f) deleting the dummy model objects that intersect with design objects.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 21 wherein the modified rule check uses the dummy metal identifications to determine existence of intersections between dummy metal and the design objects.

Assignments (10)