EP2097844A2

EP2097844A2 - Method and device providing integrated circuit design assistance

Info

Publication number: EP2097844A2
Application number: EP07870389A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stéphane BONNIOL; Michel Tabusse
Original assignee: Satin IP Technologies
Current assignee: Satin IP Technologies
Priority date: 2006-12-14
Filing date: 2007-12-13
Publication date: 2009-09-09
Also published as: WO2008071895A2; WO2008071895A3; US20100050147A1; FR2910146A1; FR2910146B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and device providing integrated circuit design assistance. Independently of a design flow, the inventive method comprises the following steps, namely: a step (405) in which an information abstraction layer (320) is put in place, using a set of classes (105 to 125) in order to create objects having a defined structure, said abstraction layer being independent of the design flow (305) of all or part of the integrated circuits; a step (445) in which specific data representative of the design flow are captured in order to assign values to the fields of at least part of the objects; and a step (450) in which the values of the objects are interpreted by design quality measurement and/or control applications. During the abstraction layer introduction step in certain embodiments of the invention, the abstraction layer has a dynamic structure in order to store the information required to measure and control the quality of reusable integrated circuit blocks. In other embodiments of the invention, the abstraction layer is based on two classes of objects with dynamic field lists, the first class enabling the creation of 'category' objects which define formats and are characteristic of the 'information' objects from the second class.

Description

Method and device for assisting the design of integrated circuits

The present invention relates to a method and a device for assisting the design of integrated circuits, independently of a design flow. It applies, particularly to the electronics industry.

The design and integration flow of an IP block is inherently highly heterogeneous and unstable. It consists of a large number of tools and methods for each phase of implementation and verification, and is complemented by specific and proprietary practices built on the experience of the different actors. The implementation of these tools and methods generates a set of data useful for measuring and controlling quality. But the nature of these data, their format, their location are directly related to the tool and the method used. Their interpretation to deduce a quality parameter therefore requires specific knowledge of the tool and the method.

In general, because of the format of each design flow, the user of the latter is then forced to manipulate almost manually the data from said stream to interpret them to deduce their adequacy with the expected level of quality.

Several methods and devices attempt to provide another type of support for the design of integrated circuits, for example through the aggregation of data on IP blocks in the form of sharing a catalog or a database, such as as described in US Pat. No. 6,970,875. This solution makes it possible to use and combine existing blocks Another solution consists, for example, in checking their characteristic, for example the processing time linked to said block or the combination of blocks obtained. as described in US 5 581 473. However, these methods are not linked to the implementation of an overall quality management of heterogeneous design flows.

On the other hand, the quality parameters used to measure and control the design and integration of an IP block are universal (in the context of integrated circuit design) and are independent of the tools and methods used. For example, an IP block designed as part of a stream A must be able to be used as part of a stream B. The intrinsic quality of an IP block must not depend on the means implemented to design it. It is these means that will give indications on its quality. Regarding the quality parameters, there are de facto standards, promoted by some organizations such as VSIA, but it is important to leave the door open for the definition of other parameters if necessary.

There is therefore a need to obtain a homogeneous view of the quality of an IP block, through the different phases of its life cycle, but also the same view between different IP blocks, from data provided by a very large number of IP blocks. variety of tools and methods, in a single flow or between different design flows.

This view of quality must be obtained through a method to support the designer or user of the IP block in capturing the necessary information and using that information for measurement and quality control. The invention described here makes it possible to set up such a method of quality control and to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

For this purpose, according to a first aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of assisting the design of integrated circuits independently of a design flow, characterized in that it comprises: a step of setting up an information abstraction layer implementing a set of classes for creating objects by defining their structure, the abstraction layer being independent of said design flow of all or part of the circuits integrated, a data capture step specific and representative of said design flow, for assigning values to fields of at least a portion of said objects, and a step of interpreting the values of said objects by measurement applications and / or quality control of the design.

The present invention thus provides an object structure and a method for collecting, in a homogeneous and stable form, all the information necessary for measuring and controlling the quality of all or part of an integrated circuit during the phases of design and integration. This method thus allows the establishment of a single quality dashboard for all phases of the life cycle of all or part of an integrated circuit, in a highly heterogeneous and unstable environment. Note that since the abstraction layer is independent of the integrated circuit design flow, it provides a stable and consistent basis for measurement and quality control.

According to particular characteristics, during the step of setting up the abstraction layer, the latter has a dynamic structure for storing information necessary for the measurement and quality control of reusable integrated circuit blocks.

The implementation of the present invention thus provides at least one dashboard for measuring and controlling the design quality and integration of integrated circuit blocks. reusable, also called "IP" (acronym for "Intellectual Property" for intellectual property).

According to particular features, the method as briefly described above includes a step of storing field names and their values in dynamic lists, categories of objects implemented in the abstraction layer. In addition, these categories are themselves dynamically created objects, and have dynamic lists for their characteristics.

The structures making it possible to store the quality information can thus be defined according to the needs. In particular, they can be programmed, created, modified via the user interface, without having to modify the source code of the application.

According to particular characteristics, during the step of setting up the abstraction layer, the latter is based on two classes of objects with dynamic lists of fields, the first class making it possible to create "category" objects defining the formats and characteristics of the "information" objects, instances of the second class.

Thanks to its dynamic structure, the abstraction layer can be dynamically reconfigured as needed.

According to particular features, the method as succinctly preceding comprises a step of dynamically modifying menus of a graphical interface with the user for entering and viewing the "information" objects. These menus are dynamically modified according to the new structure of objects and adapt to it.

Thus, the existing objects are updated dynamically according to the new structure: the obsolete fields are deleted and the new fields are eventually filled in the next modification of the objects.

According to particular features, the method according to the invention comprises a step of referencing "information" objects with each other by link type fields, the "information" objects having at least one field whose value is obtained at during a step of data capture.

According to particular features, this method includes a step of storing "category" objects and "information" objects in at least one relational database.

According to particular characteristics, each said database comprises, at least, a "CATEGORY" table for storing the "category" objects and a "CUSTOM" table for storing the "information" objects.

Advantageously, this method comprises a step of creating a database for each project and / or for each integrated circuit block. The categories of "information" objects can thus be customized project by project and the "information" objects are thus stored project by project.

According to particular features, the method comprises a step of specifying at least one "sensor" object implemented during the data capture step, to create a bridge between the abstraction layer and the design flow. integrated circuit.

According to particular features, the capture step is automatic, in particular by assigning the values to said object fields by a link with at least one "sensor" object. Thus, measurement and quality control of an IP block are performed without disrupting the design process, by automating the capture of necessary information, while preserving the integrity of the captured data. The automatic aspect of data capture provides an objective measure at any time of the evolution of the design flow without interfering with it. The present invention is therefore intended to be a non-intrusive solution with respect to said stream.

According to particular features, this method comprises a step of constructing a library of measurement and / or quality control applications. It is observed that the implementation of the present invention allows this library to be stable and standardized within an organization.

According to particular features, the step of class interpretation by measurement and / or design quality control applications is performed in random access memory in lists.

Thus, this step does not implement SQL queries on each database. The use of SQL queries, more resource-intensive, is therefore limited to the creation of lists for processing in the business layer. Applications based on the abstraction layer can thus handle a large number of objects (several tens of thousands) and the speed of execution is optimized.

According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a device for implementing said method, characterized in that it comprises:

a means of setting up an information abstraction layer implementing a set of classes to create objects by defining their structure, the abstraction layer being independent of said design flow of all or part of the integrated circuits, means for capturing specific data and representative of said design flow, for assigning values to fields of at least a part of said objects and means for interpreting the values of said objects by measurement and / or design quality control applications.

Since the advantages, aims and characteristics of this device are similar to those of the process as briefly described above, they are not repeated here.

Other advantages, aims and features of the present invention will emerge from the description which follows, made for an explanatory and non-limiting purpose with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically represents classes implemented by particular embodiments of the method that is the subject of the present invention; FIG. 2 schematically represents databases implemented by particular embodiments of the object process; of the present invention, FIG. 3 represents interactions between a stream and software components implemented by particular embodiments of the method that is the subject of the present invention, FIG. 4 represents, in the form of a logic diagram of the steps implemented. works in modes of Particular embodiments of the method which is the subject of the present invention and FIG. 5 schematically represent a particular embodiment of the device which is the subject of the present invention.

With regard to the layer (or level) of abstraction implemented for the implementation of the present invention, FIG. 1 illustrates a class diagram in which are:

class 105 "Field", class 110 "Element", class 115 "ElementList", class 120 "Category" and - class 125 "Custom".

It is observed that all the information and data necessary for measurement and quality control are stored, in classes 105 to 125, in the form of objects or attributes of objects.

Thus, the class 105 "Field" comprises the following fields, the details of which are given below:

"Name", - "title",

'Type',

"Size",

"FormSize",

"FormValue", - "capture",

"Color" and

"Import".

Class 110 "Element" has the following fields: - "name", "Summary",

"Description",

"Author",

"CreationDate" and - "modificationDate".

Class 115 "ElementList" has the following object:

"Elements".

Class 120 "Category" has the following fields:

"FieldName" - "fieldTitle"

"FieldType",

"FieldSize",

"FieldFormSize"

"FieldFormValue" - "fieldCapture"

"FieldColor",

"Fieldlmport" and

"FieldObject".

And the class 125 "Custom" has the following fields: - "categoryName",

"FieldName" and

"FieldValue".

Objects belong to a category (or type) of objects whose structure is described below. A number of object categories are predefined but their structure can be modified (list of attributes or fields) and new categories can be created, preserving the integrity of already created objects.

The structure of the objects is built from two classes: class 120 "Category" which defines the categories by a list of fields with their characteristics and a class 125 "Custom" which allows to create objects "information" and store the values of the fields according to their category. The categories are, themselves, instance instances of the class 120 "Category" and the quality information is stored in instance instances of the class 125 "Custom". Classes 120 "Category" and 125 "Custom" inherit from the parent class 110 "Element". All "category" objects and all "information" objects therefore have the fields of this class: "name", "summary", "description", "author", "creationDate" and "modificationDate".

The persistence of "category" objects and "information" objects is ensured by a layer of relational databases, represented in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, two databases 215 and 220 are represented. Each database, 215 and 220, consists of two tables: table 205 "CATEGORY" and table 210 "CUSTOM". The structure of the records in the tables is described below. A database is created by project and IP block. The categories of "information" objects can thus be customized project by project and the "information" objects are stored project by project.

It is noted that the persistence of objects can also be provided by other means, for example XML files (acronym for "eXtended Markup Language" for extended markup language).

Class 120 "CATEGORY" is used to instantiate an object defining a category of information. This "category" object of information is then referenced when creating an "information" object by the "categoryName" field of the "CUSTOM" class. The definition of a category consists in specifying the list of the fields which will be filled during the creation of the object "information" belonging to this category, with their characteristics, for example graphic, title, possible values, mapping, colors and order . The class "CATEGORY" contains a set of fields of type "list" to specify each field in the category. At a position in a list corresponds a characteristic of a field. The list type fields are as follows:

- "fieldName": Name of the field; must be unique for a given category,

"FieldTitle": Title of the field; text appearing in the GUI for entering or reading the field, - "fieldType": Type of the field; which makes it possible to define both the function of the field and the graphic mode used for its input; examples of types include Title, Text, TextArea, Password, Path, FileUpload, Date, Select, Radio,

"LinkSingle" and "LinkMultiple". Other types can be added, the interpretation of types being programmed in a graphical interface and corresponding applications, - "fieldSize": Field size in memory, useful for text types,

"FieldFormSize": Size of the field in the input graphical interface (form), "feldFormValue": Enumeration of the possible values for entering the field in the input graphic interface (form). In the case of the type "LinkSingle", link with another object, or of the type "LinkMultiple", link with other objects, enumeration of the categories that can be linked with this field of this category,

"FieldCapture": Name of the category of the object used for the automatic entry of the field value, "fieldColor": Color of the field area in the graphic interface and "Fieldlmport": Name of the corresponding mapping for importing "information" objects from an external source.

Class 120 "CATEGORY" also includes a "fieldObject" field of type list of "Field" class objects allowing direct access to the characteristics of a field of the "information" object, during processing on this object by the graphical interface or by the applications. A "list" type field above is used for category transfers with the database and when entering categories via the GUI.

Class 125 "CUSTOM" is used to instantiate an "information" object. The category of the object is specified by the field "categoryName", the value of which corresponds to the name of a "category" object previously created, instance of the "CATEGORY" class described above.

Class 125 "CUSTOM" has two fields of type list, "fieldName" and "fieldValue" for storing, on the one hand, the names of the fields of the object "information" and, on the other hand, the corresponding values . Thus, at a given position, we obtain, in the first list, the name of the field and, in the second list, the value corresponding to this field. The characteristics of the fields are stored in the corresponding "category" object. The values of the fields are all stored as a string. The interpretation of the values of integer fields, real or other, is programmed in the corresponding applications. The consistency of the values entered or captured automatically is verified by the type of the field specified in the corresponding "category" object.

The names of the fields and their values are stored in dynamic lists, the categories are themselves objects (thus dynamically created) having dynamic lists for their characteristics. The structures for storing the quality information can therefore be programmed, created, modified as needed, via the user interface, without having to modify the source code of the application. Thus, a structure of an object can be redefined without intervening on the initial program, freeing itself from a possible hard coding.

The graphic menus for entering and viewing the "information" objects are also dynamically modified according to the new structure. The existing objects are dynamically updated according to the new structure: the obsolete fields are deleted and the new fields are eventually filled at the next modification of the objects (automatic synchronization of the "fieldName" and "fieldValue" lists).

On the other hand, the "CATEGORY" class can also evolve by adding new "list" fields to specify new characteristics for the fields of "information" objects. The modification of the code of the class "CATEGORY" thus imposes an update of the "category" objects instances of this class, such a modification having to be carried out during the reinstallation of the application. On the other hand, all the "information" objects already existing in the database are preserved by such a modification since the characteristics of their fields are not in the class 125 "CUSTOM". It is thus possible to enrich the application by adding new characteristics for the fields of the "information" objects, without impacting the "information" objects created by a previous version of the application.

As explained above, the persistence of "category" and "information" objects is achieved by storing objects in relational database. Each object is stored as a single record in a table, "CATEGORY" or "CUSTOM". The dynamic fields "list" are mapped, that is, stored in a structured way in 'TEXT' columns, list items separated by a programmable regular expression, for example the character 'the _¬ The "list" type field is thus stored in the database in the form of a string of characters in a column, its different elements being separated by the chosen separator. The chosen regular expression should not appear in the values of the items in the list. When transferring an object implementing a database, a conversion is performed between the "list" type fields of the object and the "TEXT" type columns of the record in the database .

Other mappings of the "list" type fields can be envisaged. This choice makes it possible to limit the use of the database to SQL (Structured Query Language) for the simplest way to save, modify or select the objects, the dynamic aspect of the structure objects being processed at the class level and their "list" type fields. The particular embodiment of the method that is the subject of the present invention is therefore not based on a complex organization of the objects in the database exploited by join SQL statements (see "MatrixOne" method, registered trademark), in order to separate the layer the persistence layer and thus to be able to easily choose other storage techniques, such as XML files. The architecture of the system can be optimized and secured according to the needs and in case of failure, for example, by switching to a storage in the form of XML files, if the SQL server is not available. In addition, applications based on the abstraction layer can handle a large number of objects (tens of thousands) and need to access the different fields optimally. To optimize the speed of execution, all these processes are preferably done in RAM in lists and not by SQL queries on the database. The use of SQL queries is therefore limited preferably to the constitution of lists for processing in the business layer.

The abstraction layer provides an easy-to-use AFI (acronym for "Application Programming Interface"). In object-oriented language, it is the set of public and documented methods of a class to create objects of this class and manipulate them. These are, for example, "set" and "get" methods making it possible to read or write the various fields of the object referenced in the code of an application. In embodiments of the present invention, this API is enriched over time, so as to constitute a library of methods, allowing the creation of new applications. An application that can itself become a new method of the library if it is useful, so that you can program new applications, for example:

search for objects according to their category and / or their name, retrieval of the value of a field of an object and - creation, modification, deletion of object (s).

Class 115 "ElementList" is used to store lists of selected objects for processing. With regard to the capture of information, all information and data necessary for measurement and quality control are captured:

- manually through a graphical interface, or GUI (acronym for "Graphical User Interface" for graphical user interface), for example, for data and remarks resulting from a human reflection or - automatically, by executing objects " sensors' for measurable parameter values.

The graphical interface offers a set of menus for viewing and editing "category" and "information" objects. The menu format for "information" objects is automatically built from the characteristics described in the corresponding category. Through these menus, objects and their fields can be manually specified.

In measuring and monitoring the quality of a process, it is essential that the necessary information be collected in a continuous manner and without disrupting the process itself. In the case of integrated circuit design, it is important to minimize the cost of capturing the information so as not to consume resources dedicated to the realization of the IP block, which would ultimately negatively impact the quality the IP block. Since a large amount of useful information for measurement and quality control is generated by design tools and formal methods, in various forms, their capture in the previously described abstraction layer is performed automatically. The information may be available in text files, in databases or returned by program call. The method implemented for the implementation of the method that is the subject of the present invention relies on software routines encapsulated in programmable "sensor" objects as previously described. Fields in this object category are used to specify regular expressions to look for in files, database connection settings, program calls. These "sensor" objects are hooked to fields of "information" objects to automatically import their value. "Sensor" objects are used to import objects of a category using mapping information for field mapping. These "sensor" objects can therefore be created, modified and stored in order to build an automatic gateway between the specific and unstable elements of the design flows and the stable and homogeneous abstraction layer. The adaptation of a "sensor" object to a new situation is done by modifying one or more fields of the corresponding object.

For the applications, the objects and the values of the fields of the automatically filled objects are interpreted by programs generating the quality views in different forms, for example tables, graphs, reports, metrics (set of measuring points whose value allows to measure a quality or a trend, for example the rate of bugs found per week) or standard supports.

The independence of the abstraction layer with the specificities of the design flows makes it possible to build a set of standardized and stable quality measurement and control applications within an organization.

The applications only depend on the format of the abstraction layer defined by the category objects. New applications can be developed using the abstraction layer API providing all the functions needed to manipulate objects. FIG. 3 illustrates, on one side, the specific environment related to a stream 305 and, on the other hand, the independent domain 310. The latter comprises sensors 315 connected to the stream 305, an abstraction layer 320, an API 325, applications 330 and the graphical interface 335. The sensors form the interface between the stream 305 and the abstraction layer 320 making the latter independent of said stream 305.

FIG. 4 illustrates a particular embodiment of the method that is the subject of the present invention for the creation of objects of category "FUNCTSPEC", functional specification, containing a field making it possible to link this type of object

"FUNCTSPEC" with one or more category objects

"REQUIREMENT", expression of the needs for the design of an IP block, already defined, and of category "DOCUMENT", meta-information on the reference documents or standards used for the design, already defined, a field allowing to store the status of its manual review, and a field allowing to link this type of objects with an object of category "RELEASE", version of the IP block, already defined.

During a step 405, a layer, or level, of abstraction is created with the classes 105 to 125 illustrated in FIG. 1. It is noted that the abstraction layer proposes a simple API, so as to be able to program new applications, for example:

search for objects according to their category, their name, - retrieval of the value of a field of an object and creation, modification, deletion of object (s).

The information abstraction layer implements a set of object classes to create objects by defining their structure, and is independent of the design flow of all or part of integrated circuits. Layer Abstraction has a dynamic structure for storing information needed for measurement and quality control of reusable IC chips. The abstraction layer is based on two classes of objects with dynamic lists of fields, the first class making it possible to create "category" objects defining the formats and characteristics of the "information" objects instances of the second class.

During a step 410, category objects are created which define a category (or type) of objects whose structure is described above. It is recalled that a certain number of categories of objects are predefined and that their structure can be modified (list of attributes or fields) and new categories can be created, preserving the integrity of objects already created and data previously captured. and saved. The structure of the objects is built from two classes: the class 120 "CATEGORY" which makes it possible to define the categories by a list of fields with their characteristics and a class 125 "CUSTOM" which makes it possible to create objects "informations" and store the values of the fields according to their category.

Class 120 "CATEGORY" is used to instantiate an object defining a category of information. This "category" object of information is then referenced when creating an "information" object by the "categoryName" field of the "CUSTOM" class. The definition of a category consists in specifying the list of the fields which will be filled during the creation of the object "information" belonging to this category, with their characteristics, for example graphic, title, possible values, mapping, colors and order .

Class 120 "CATEGORY" includes, in particular, the field

"FieldObject" type list of "Field" class objects allowing direct access to the characteristics of a field of the "information" object, during processing on this object by the graphical interface or by the applications. A "list" type field above is used for category transfers with the database and when entering categories via the GUI.

Class 125 "CUSTOM" is used to instantiate an "information" object

The names of the fields and their values are stored in dynamic lists, the categories are themselves objects

(thus dynamically created) having dynamic lists for their characteristics. The structures for storing the quality information can therefore be programmed, created, modified as needed, via the graphical interface, without having to modify the source code of

1 application.

Step 410 is in fact the creation of "category" objects in which one or more fields may be specified as being a link to other "information" objects of a certain category. This link mechanism allows the specification of a link type field ("LinkSingle", "LinkMultiple").

In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, a "category" object with the following values is defined for the fields of the class "CATEGORY", that is to say that this object is created by a program or that the we create a new instance of the class

"CATEGORY" by specifying the values of the fields, the fields of "list" type which make it possible to specify the characteristics of each field of the category thus created being entered in a table via the graphic interface 335:

"Name": "FUNCTSPEC", a name used to reference the category for "information" objects, "Summary": category for functional specification objects (free text to briefly present the nature of the object), "description": this "category" object contains the fields "requirementName", "manualReview",

"Configuration". The "requirementName" field is used for etc (free text to describe in detail the role of this object), "fieldName": I requirementName | manualReview | configuration | (names of the specific fields of the objects belonging to this category, separated by the chosen regular expression, in this case the character ^Λ | ') _# «fieldTitle»: | Requirement Name | Manual Review I Configuration I (titles of the specific fields used for the visualization of the objects and in the forms of seizure),

I REQUIREMENT, DOCUMENT I Yes, No I RELEASE I (for the first field, all the objects of category REQUIREMENT and category DOCUMENT, already defined, will be proposed in selection, for the second field, the values "Yes" and "No" will proposed in radio button, for the third field, all the objects of category RELEASE, already defined, will be proposed in selection),

"FieldCapture": | none | none | none | (none of these fields are captured automatically),

"FieldColor": | SILVER | BISQUE | SILVER | (different colors for the second field in the GUI) and

"Fieldlmport": I requirementName | manualReview | configuration |

(mapping of names for the mapping in case of automatic import of objects of this category).

During a step 420, a user interface is updated whose graphic menus for entering and viewing the "information" objects are also dynamically modified according to the new structure. The existing objects are dynamically updated according to the new structure: the obsolete fields are deleted and the new fields are eventually filled at the next modification of the objects (automatic synchronization of the "fieldName" and "fieldValue" lists).

This graphical interface offers a set of menus for viewing and editing "categories" and "information" objects. The menu format for "information" objects is automatically built from the characteristics described in the corresponding category. Through these menus, objects and their fields can be manually specified.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, once each object

"Category" created, the graphical interface has all the necessary features to automatically propose all the menus to edit the "information" objects of category "FUNCTSPEC", instances of the class "CUSTOM".

During a step 425, a relational database is created to ensure the persistence of the "category" objects and "information" objects, consisting of two tables: the table 205 "CATEGORY" and the table 210 "CUSTOM". The structure of the records in the tables is described above. The category objects and the information objects are stored in a relational database.

Preferably, a database is created for each project and / or for each block of integrated circuit. Each database has, at least, a "CATEGORY" table for storing "category" objects and a "CUSTOM" table for storing "information" objects.

During a step 430, we create "sensor" objects that perform the automatic capture of information, that is to say information and data necessary for measurement and quality control. The specification of at least one "sensor" object creates a bridge between the abstraction layer and the integrated circuit design flow.

For the collection of the necessary information to be continuous and without disrupting the process itself, in the case of integrated circuit design, the cost of capturing the information is minimized so as not to consume dedicated resources. the realization of the IP block, which ultimately would negatively impact the quality of the IP block. Since a large amount of useful information for measurement and quality control is generated by design tools and formal methods, in various forms, their capture in the previously described abstraction layer is done automatically. The information can be available in the design flow within text files, in databases or returned by program call.

Here we rely on software routines encapsulated in programmable "sensor" objects as previously described. Fields in this object category are used to specify regular expressions to look for in files, database connection settings, program calls. These "sensor" objects are hooked to "information" object fields to automatically import their value. "Sensor" objects are used to import objects of a category using mapping information for field mapping. These "sensor" objects can therefore be created, modified and stored in order to build an automatic gateway between the specific and unstable elements of the design flows and the stable and homogeneous abstraction layer. The adaptation of a "sensor" object to a new situation is done by modifying one or more fields of the corresponding object. The user can therefore reconfigure the capture parameters of such a "sensor" object.

During a step 435, the creation of at least one application, developed using the API of the abstraction layer to access the "information" objects of the "FUNCTSPEC" category and to the values of the various fields, is carried out. of these objects: "name", "summary", "description", "requirementName", "manualReview", "configuration", "author", "creationDate" and "modificationDate". The functions of the API also make it possible to access the object "category""FUNCTSPEC" and the values of its various fields. The characteristics of each field can be obtained directly by using the "field fieldObject" object list of the "category" object "FUNCTSPEC". An application checks, for example, the requirements coverage ("REQUIREMENT" category) by the functional specifications and highlights any shortcomings.

During a step 440, the construction of a library of measurement and / or quality control applications is carried out.

During another step 445, "information" objects are created, each referring to a "category" object, then the "sensor" objects automatically capture values stored in the "information" object fields. by a link with at least one "sensor" object.

Referencing the "information" objects, relative to each other, occurs during step 445, as these "information" objects are created during capture. Indeed, the data capture consists in creating the "information" objects and filling in their fields (manually or automatically), the link actually being made during the creation of the "information" objects during the step 445. In another step 450, the objects are processed by measurement and / or design quality control applications.

We note that applications based on the abstraction layer can handle a large number of objects (several tens of thousands) and need to access the various fields optimally. To optimize the speed of execution, all these processes are preferably done in RAM, for example of the RAM type, in lists and not by SQL queries on the database. The use of SQL queries is therefore limited preferably to the constitution of lists for processing in the business layer. For applications, the objects and fields of captured objects are interpreted by programs that generate quality views in various forms, for example, tables, graphs, reports, metrics, or standard media.

The independence of the abstraction layer from the specificities of the design flows makes it possible to build a set of standardized and stable quality measurement and control applications within an organization.

The applications only depend on the format of the abstraction layer defined by the category objects. New applications can be developed using the abstraction layer API providing all the functions needed to manipulate objects.

During an optional step 455, a dynamic modification of at least one category of objects is performed without modifying or recompiling the application and preserving the integrity of all the existing information objects. For example, we store names of fields and their values in dynamic lists, the categories themselves being objects, therefore being created dynamically, having dynamic lists for their characteristics.

During another step 460 generated by the optional step 455, an automatic update of a graphical interface is performed, without modification or recompilation of the application. For example, the dynamic modification of menus of a graphical interface for the input and visualization of the "information" objects is performed, these menus being dynamically modified according to the new structure. Then we return to step 445.

FIG. 5 shows a computer 500 comprising a controller 505 equipped with a random access memory 510 and a non-volatile memory. volatile 515 retaining a software 520 implementing the method object of the present invention, at least one relational database 525 and an application 530 for measuring and / or controlling the quality of the design.

The computer 500 constitutes a device for implementing the method according to the invention. Such a device comprises: means (505, 405) for setting up an information abstraction layer (320) implementing a set of classes (105 to 125) for creating objects by defining their structure , the abstraction layer being independent of said flow (305) for designing all or part of the integrated circuits, means (505, 520, 445) for capturing specific data and representative of said design flow, for assigning values to fields of at least a portion of said objects and means (505, 530, 450) for interpreting the values of said objects by measurement and / or design quality control applications.

On reading the foregoing description of the method and the device that are the subject of the present invention, it is understood that they allow the setting up of a dynamic structure abstraction layer for storing the information necessary for measurement and control. Reusable IC chip quality, based on two classes of objects with dynamic field lists. The first class is used to create "category" objects defining the formats and characteristics of the "information" objects instances of the second class. The abstraction layer is independent of the design flow of an IP block and provides a stable and consistent basis for measurement and quality control. Thanks to its dynamic structure, it can be dynamically reconfigured according to the needs. The implementation of the present invention allows the dynamic modification of object categories, without modification or recompilation of the application and preserving the integrity of all existing information objects.

The implementation of the present invention also allows the dynamic modification of the categories of objects with automatic update of the graphical interface without modification or recompilation of the application.

The implementation of the present invention also makes it possible to reference the "information" objects with each other by link type fields. It allows specifying "sensor" objects to create a dynamic gateway between the abstraction layer and the information sources, to automatically capture the values of the fields by a link with "sensor" objects, to build a library of Measurement and quality control applications, stable and standardized within an organization.

The implementation of the present invention makes it possible to measure and control the quality of an IP block without disrupting the design process: automating the capture of the necessary information while preserving the integrity of the data.

It should be noted that the present invention can be extended to other domains than the design of IP blocks, in any application where it is a question of collecting and exploiting information through an abstraction layer making it possible to define correlate the measurement of the specificities of the environment.

Claims

1) A method for assisting the design of integrated circuits independently of a design flow, characterized in that it comprises:

a step (405) of setting up an information abstraction layer (320) implementing a set of classes (105 to 125) to create objects by defining their structure, the abstraction layer being independent from said design flow (305) of all or some of the integrated circuits, a step (445) for capturing specific data representative of said design flow, for assigning values to fields of at least a portion of said objects, and a step (450) for interpreting the values of said objects by measurement and / or quality control applications of the design.

2) Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, during the step (405) of setting up the abstraction layer (320), the abstraction layer has a dynamic structure for storing necessary information the measurement and quality control of reusable integrated circuit blocks.

3) Method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a step (410) for storing field names and their values in dynamic lists, categories of objects implemented in the abstraction layer (320) being, themselves, objects having dynamic lists for their characteristics. 4) Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, during the step (405) of setting up the abstraction layer (320), the latter is based on two classes of objects with dynamic lists of fields, the first class (120) making it possible to create "category" objects defining the formats and characteristics of the "information" objects instances of the second class (125).

5) Method according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises a step (420, 460) of dynamic modification of menus of a graphical interface for the capture and the visualization of the objects "information", these menus being dynamically modified in function of the new structure of objects.

6) Method according to any one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in that it comprises a step (445) of referencing objects "information" with each other by fields of the link type, the objects "information Having at least one field whose value is obtained during the data capture step.

7) Method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a step (425) for storing "category" objects and "information" objects in at least one relational database (215) having at least one table (205) for storing the "category" objects and a table (210) for storing the "information" objects.

8) Method according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a step (425) for creating a database for each project and / or for each integrated circuit block.

9) Method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises a step (430) for specifying at least one "sensor" object implemented during step (445) of capture data, to create a gateway between the abstraction layer (320) and the integrated circuit design flow (305).

10) Method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the step (445) capture is automatic, in particular through the assignment of values to said object fields by a link with at least one object "Sensor".

11) Method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises a step (440) for constructing a library of said measurement and / or quality control applications.

12) Method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the step (450) of class interpretation by measuring applications and / or control of the quality of the design is performed in random access memory (510) in lists.

13) Device (500) for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it comprises:

means (505, 405) for setting an information abstraction layer (320) implementing a set of classes (105 to 125) to create objects by defining their structure, the layer of abstraction being independent of said flow (305) for designing all or part of the integrated circuits, - means (505, 520, 445) for capturing specific data and representative of said design flow, for assigning values to fields of at least least part of said objects and means (505, 530, 450) for interpreting the values of said objects by applications of measurement and / or quality control of the design.