A new triple-layer OTC channel router

Author

Kim, Jaewon ; Kang, Sung-Mo

Author_Institution

LSI Logic Corp., Milpitas, CA, USA

Volume

15

Issue

9

fYear

1996

fDate

9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1059

Lastpage

1070

Abstract

We propose a new algorithm for a triple-layer over-the-cell (OTC) routing in an irregular cell area. While other OTC routers assume that the cell structure is restricted to a certain type such as uniform height, our OTC router accepts both standard cells and custom cells. Our OTC channel routing consists of five steps: (i) double-layer routing, (ii) track-to-metal3 transformation, (iii) segment-to-metal3 transformation, (iv) segment-to-metal1 transformation, and (v) triple-layer routing. We prove that the transformation steps can be executed in linear time. The effectiveness of our algorithm is demonstrated through physical circuit layouts with fully customized cells. Our algorithm is applied to route MCNC benchmark circuits and Deutsch´s difficult problem resulting in a significant reduction in channel area

Keywords

application specific integrated circuits; cellular arrays; integrated circuit layout; logic CAD; network routing; Deutsch´s difficult problem; MCNC benchmark circuits; channel area; custom cells; double-layer routing; fully customized cells; irregular cell area; over-the-cell routing; physical circuit layouts; segment-to-metal1 transformation; segment-to-metal3 transformation; standard cells; track-to-metal3 transformation; triple-layer OTC channel router; triple-layer routing; Algorithm design and analysis; Circuits; Helium; Large scale integration; Logic; Nonhomogeneous media; Rails; Routing; Synthesizers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0278-0070

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/43.536712

Filename

536712