JP3001549B1 - Hierarchical storage method and system for electronic circuit connection information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for storing hierarchical electronic circuit data that suppresses an increase in storage capacity and reduces storage time. Kind Code: A1 An instance common information is input from a hierarchical structure electronic circuit data, is created for each definition, and is made up of information that can be shared in instance information, and information uniquely expressed for each instance. Cell hierarchy information cell generating means 21 for constructing hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 including cell hierarchy information having the instance specific information 50 and storing the same in the storage device 3; Connection information generating means for forming net connection information 60 representing connections. The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 stores nets in a state where the hierarchical structure of the cells is maintained, and stores electronic information while having the hierarchical structure. It has connection information capable of individually identifying all nets in the circuit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and a system for storing electronic circuit connection information, and more particularly, to a method and a method for hierarchically storing electronic circuit connection information data in a data processing device for reducing storage capacity and storage time. About the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional method for storing hierarchical electronic circuit data in a storage device of a data processing device will be described below with reference to FIG. This conventional method is often used at the time of reading layout data. For input hierarchical electronic circuit data, a full expansion process is performed on a root cell (step D1), and a flat (having no structure) electronic circuit is obtained. Create connection information.

In the flat electronic circuit connection information obtained by this processing, all data is developed for the root cell.

[0004]

However, this conventional method has the following problems.

[0005] The first problem is that the capacity of a storage device required for storing data increases.

[0006] The reason is that the created data has information that can be made common for all instances. Therefore, when the number of instances referenced from the definition increases, the capacity of the storage device required for storing data increases.

[0007] The second problem is that the processing time required for storing data is long.

[0008] The reason is that a long processing time is required to perform all expansion processing on input data.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to suppress an increase in storage capacity required for storing data and to shorten a processing time required for storing data. A data storage method and system are provided.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a method of connecting hierarchical electronic circuit data representing data of an electronic circuit having a hierarchical structure to a hierarchical electronic circuit connection comprising cell hierarchy information and net connection information. As information, to provide a data storage system to be stored in the storage device, input hierarchical structure electronic circuit data, for all the definitions in the hierarchical electronic circuit data, created for each definition, In the instance information, instance common information consisting of information that can be shared, and created for all instances of the hierarchical electronic circuit data,
In the information of the instance, a cell hierarchy information cell generating means that configures the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information, including a cell hierarchy information having instance specific information composed of information uniquely expressed for each instance, The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information includes connection information generating means that is created for each instance-specific information and configures net connection information that represents equipotential connections. Are held in a state where the hierarchical structure of the electronic circuit is held, and has connection information that can individually identify all the nets in the electronic circuit while having the hierarchical structure.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described. The present invention provides hierarchical electronic circuit data (1 in FIG. 1).
Is input, and the definition (definition information) of all cells in the hierarchical electronic circuit data (11 in FIG. 2) (111 in FIG. 2,
112) is created for each definition,
In the instance information, instance common information (40 in FIG. 1) consisting of information that can be shared and all instances of the hierarchical electronic circuit data are created. Instance specific information (5 in FIG. 1)
0), and the cell hierarchy information cell generation means (FIG. 1) for constructing the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information (31 in FIG. 1) including the cell hierarchy information and storing it in the storage device (3 in FIG. 1). 2
1) and net connection information (60 in FIG. 1) created for each instance-specific information as the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information and expressing equipotential connections and stored in the storage device (3 in FIG. 1). A connection information generating means (22 in FIG. 1), and a net is stored in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information (31 in FIG. 1) in a state in which the hierarchical structure of the cells is maintained. It has connection information capable of individually identifying all nets in the electronic circuit while having it.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the hierarchical electronic circuit data (11 in FIG. 2) is defined by the definition (1 in FIG. 2).
11, 112), a cell record including information on a cell name, a cell height, and a cell width of a cell, a reference record including a cell name, an instance name, and coordinates of a cell referred to by the cell, and a net included in the cell. A net record including a name, a connection destination instance name, and a connection destination net name is included for each cell.

[0013] In the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information, the instance common information includes a cell name, a cell height, and a cell width created from information of the cell record of each definition as a record. An information unit (40 in FIG. 3), a table pointing to the instance common information unit (400 in FIG. 3),
Has a data structure consisting of Table (40 in FIG. 3)
0) may be configured to point to the instance common information unit by a hash value generated from a cell name.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information, the instance specific information for storing information that cannot be shared includes an instance name, coordinates, a point value to the instance common information, An information unit that includes, as a record, a net included in the instance, a pointer to an instance-specific information unit in the same layer, and a pointer to an instance in a lower layer (5 in FIG.
0).

In the embodiment of the present invention, in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information, the net connection information is an information unit including a net name and its connection destination information (60 in FIG. 4).
Is included in net units. Assign an equipotential number to the net,
In the record that stores the net in the instance-specific information, the equipotential number of the net is stored (505 in FIG. 4), and the net connection information is the information unit including the net name and the connection destination information. 5 includes a table (600 in FIG. 5).

The method of the present invention comprises the following steps.

Step A: Hierarchical structure electronic circuit data is input, and all the definitions in the hierarchical electronic circuit data are created for each of the definitions, and the information of the instance is converted from the information that can be shared in the instance information. Cell hierarchy information including instance common information and instance specific information that is created for all instances of the hierarchical electronic circuit data and that is uniquely expressed for each instance in the instance information. And the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information is stored in the storage device.

Step B: Net connection information, which is created for each instance specific information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information and expresses an equipotential connection, is configured.

More specifically, the step A includes the following steps.

Step 1: The cell name of the root cell of the hierarchical electronic circuit is designated and inputted, and a definition record of the designated cell is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data.

Step 2: It is determined whether or not the instance common information has already been created for the read definition record.

Step 3: If the instance common information has not been created, the instance common information is created from the information that can be shared in the read definition record.

Step 4: It is determined whether or not all lower cells of the read definition have been created.

Step 5: If there is an uncreated cell, a lower cell determined to be uncreated is designated, and the processing from step 1 is recursively called and executed.

Step 6: When all lower cells have been created, instance unique information is created from the read definition.

The step B comprises the following steps in more detail.

Step 11: The instance specific information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information is read.

Step 12: For the instance specific information, a record of a definition net is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data.

Step 13: It is determined whether or not the read net has already been created by searching the net information of the instance of the instance specific information. If not, the equipotential number of the net is determined. Create net connection information including net name and connection destination information.

Step 14: Determine the equipotential number of the connection destination and create net connection information of the connection destination.

The embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The data processing device 2 includes a cell hierarchy information generating means 21 and a connection information generating means 22, and stores hierarchical electronic circuit data (file data). 1) Read the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 from 1.

The hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 stores the definition information of the cells constituting the electronic circuit. The hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 includes the definition information of the cell (see definition 111 in FIG. 2). .

In the data processing device, the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 creates, in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31, cell hierarchy information expressing the cell hierarchy structure of the hierarchical electronic circuit data.

The cell hierarchy information includes instance common information 40 having information common to the instances and instance unique information 50 having information unique to each instance.

The instance common information 40 is created for every definition in the hierarchical electronic circuit data for each definition, and is composed of information that can be shared in the instance information.

The instance specific information 50 is created for all instances in the circuit information of the electronic circuit, and includes information to be uniquely expressed for each instance in the instance information.

As described above, by using the common data of each instance as the instance common information, the capacity of the storage device 3 required to store the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 is reduced.

The connection information generating means 22 forms the net connection information 60 expressing the equipotential connection in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31.

The network connection information 60 is created for each instance-specific information, and is composed of information necessary for expressing a network connection.

Even when a definition is referred to a plurality of times on the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11, it is stored as an identifiable net in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention,
In the electronic circuit information, the net is held in a state where the hierarchical structure of the cell is held. For this reason, when creating data that can identify all nets, connection information can be created at high speed without performing all development.

The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 has connection information which has a hierarchical structure and can individually identify all nets in the electronic circuit.

In the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to form connection information capable of individually identifying all nets in an electronic circuit while having a hierarchical structure. The storage capacity required for storage and the processing time can be reduced.

[0044]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention includes a hierarchical electronic circuit data 1, a data processing device 2, and a storage device 3.
, Output means, and editing means 4.

The data processing device 2 includes a cell hierarchy information generating means 21 and a connection information generating means 22. These means each have the following functions.

The cell hierarchical information generating means 21 reads the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1 and outputs the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31.
Then, cell hierarchy information (instance common information and instance specific information) is generated.

The connection information generating means 22 reads the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1 and generates net connection information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31.

The storage device 3 stores and holds the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 created by the data processing device 2.

The output unit / editing unit 4 is an output unit for outputting the data held in the storage device 3 to a display device or a printing device. The editing unit outputs the data held in the storage device 3. It has the ability to modify, add, and change.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11, and is a diagram showing an example in which the electronic circuit shown in FIG. 11 is represented as data. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 includes a definition 111 and a definition 112. Definition 11
1 is a table of instance common information including each record of cell name, cell height, cell width, a reference including cell name, instance name, coordinates, net name, connection destination instance name, connection destination net name Consists of a net containing

In one embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the input hierarchical electronic circuit data 1 is stored in a format that can be randomly accessed for each definition. Further, it is assumed that the format is such that the record of the net being defined can be directly accessed.

Even when the hierarchical electronic circuit data is not in the above-described format, the hierarchical electronic circuit data is divided for each definition, and the net record and other data are divided and stored. Can be converted to For example, if the hierarchical electronic circuit data is a file on a computer, it is divided into files for each definition, and the file is further divided into net records and other records, and stored as a plurality of files. I just need.

FIGS. 3 to 5 show examples of the data structure of the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information stored in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of the instance common information. Referring to FIG.
The table 40 is a table of instance common information, and holds information that can be shared. A record 401 indicates a cell name, a record 402 indicates a cell height, and a record 403 indicates a cell width.

The array 400 is a hash table for indicating the instance common information, and is a one-dimensional array of reference pointers to the instance common information. The hash value is determined by the cell name of the instance common information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the instance specific information. Referring to FIG. 4, a table 50 is a table of instance-specific information, and holds information that cannot be shared.

Record 501 is the instance name, record 502 is the coordinate value of the instance in the x direction, record 5
03 is the coordinate value of the instance in the y direction,
Numeral 4 stores the hash value to the instance common information corresponding to the instance unique information.

The record 505 holds the net that the instance has internally. Nets are represented by equipotential numbers. The equipotential number is stored in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31.
It is created so that it does not have the same number internally.

The record 506 stores a pointer to instance-specific information in the same hierarchy. With this record, the instance specific information of all the instances in the same hierarchy forms a chain list.

The record 507 is a pointer to an instance of a lower hierarchy.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the network connection information. The table 60 is a table of the network connection information.

A record 601 stores a net name, and a record 602 expresses a connection destination net using an equipotential number.

The table 600 is an array showing the equipotential numbers, and the elements of the array are composed of pointers to the net connection information. The sequence numbers represent equipotential numbers. For example, the first element of the array is a pointer to the net connection information having the equipotential number of equipotential number 1.

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 show the data structure generated from the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 8 shows the generated instance common information and FIG. Is a diagram showing generated instance specific information, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing generated net connection information.

In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9, the instance specific information 52 and the instance specific information 53 form a chain list of the same hierarchy. The cell represented by the instance unique information 51 is the instance unique information 52 and the instance unique information 5.
Reference is made to the cell represented by 3.

As described above, the hierarchical structure of a cell is expressed by referring to the instance specific information 53 of the chain list of the same hierarchy by the instance specific information 51 of the upper hierarchy.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for specifically explaining one embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram showing an example of an electronic circuit. This electronic circuit is composed of cells 81, 82 and 83.

The cell 81 has a cell name “TOP”,
Inside, a net 811 and a net 812 whose net names are “N01” are included.

The cell 82 has a cell name "A" and includes therein a net 821 having a net name "H01". The cell 83 has a cell name “A” and includes therein a net 831 having a net name “H01”. The net 811 and the net 821 are connected, and the net 812 and the net 83
1 are connected.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow charts for explaining the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 explains the operation of the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 and FIG. It is a flowchart for performing.

First, the operation of the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 will be described with reference to FIG.

The processing of the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 is started by specifying a cell name, an instance name, an x coordinate and a y coordinate.

At step A1, one definition record of the specified cell is read from the input hierarchical electronic circuit data 11. When called first, the root cell of the hierarchical electronic circuit is specified.

In step A2, it is determined whether or not instance common information has already been created for the read definition record. This determination is performed by obtaining a hash value from the cell name of the read definition and searching for the hash 400 in FIG. If the instance common information has not been created, proceed to step A
3 and if the instance common information has been created,
The process moves to step A4.

In step A3, instance common information is created from the read definition. The instance common information is created from information that can be shared in the read definition record.

At step A4, it is determined whether or not all the lower cells of the read definition have been created.
This determination is made based on whether the reference record of the cell read in step A1 has been read to the end. If there is an uncreated cell, the process proceeds to step A5.

If all lower cells have been created, the process moves to step A6.

In step A5, this flow is recursively executed by designating the lower cell determined to be uncreated in step A4.

In steps A4 and A5, the process is repeated until the execution is completed for all lower cells.

At step A6, instance specific information is created from the read definition. The instance-specific information is created from information specific to each instance from the read definition and the information given at the time of calling this flow. The information passed when calling this flow is the cell name, instance name, and x
Coordinates and y-coordinate. Then, the process ends.

As described above, the instance common information and the instance unique information are generated.

Next, the operation of the network connection information generating means 22 will be described with reference to FIG.

At step B1, one instance specific information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 is read. In this processing, the reading order does not matter.

In step B2, it is determined whether or not the instance unique information has been read in step B1. If there is instance specific information, the process proceeds to step B3. If there is no unprocessed instance specific information, the process ends.

At step B3, one net is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data for the instance specific information read at step B1. The net is read from the definition net record. The record of the net of the definition is selected when creating the instance specific information read in step B1.

At step B4, it is determined whether or not the net has been read at step B3. If there is a net, the process proceeds to step B5. If there is no unprocessed net, the process proceeds to step B1.

In step B5, it is determined whether the net read in step B3 has already been created. This determination is made by searching for net information (record 505 in FIG. 4) in which the instance of the instance unique information read in step B1 is contained. If it has been created, the process moves to step B3. If not, the process moves to step B6.

At step B6, an equipotential number is determined. The equipotential number is determined so that there is no same number in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information as needed. here,
.., N−1, n are determined.
If the equipotential number has already been determined, it is determined using the already created number.

At step B7, network connection information is created. At this time, the equipotential number determined in the immediately preceding step B6 is used as the equipotential number. The net name is
The net name read in step B3 is used.

In step B8, it is determined whether or not the connection destination net connection information has been created. The determination is made by searching for the net information (refer to the record 505 in FIG. 4) in which the instance of the instance specific information of the connection destination has inside. If it has been created, the process moves to step B3. Even if there is no connection destination, it is regarded as created. If not, the process moves to step B9.

In step B9, the equipotential number of the connection destination is determined. The equipotential number is determined in the same manner as in step B6.

At step B10, net connection information of the connection destination is created. Here, the network connection information that is the connection destination of the network connection information created in step B7 is created. At this time, the equipotential number determined in step B9 is used. Also, the net name is
The connection destination net name read in step 3 is used.

As described above, the network connection information is generated.

With the above processing, hierarchical electronic circuit connection information is generated.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 11, description will be given in accordance with specific hierarchical electronic circuit data.

First, in the process of the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 shown as a flowchart in FIG. 6, the cell having the cell name "TOP" is started as a root cell. The flow shown in FIG. 6 is a flow for the root cell.

The cell name when the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 is activated is "TOP". Since the instance name, the x coordinate, and the y coordinate are root cells, appropriate values are specified.

At step A1, the definition 111 of the cell name "TOP" is read.

In step A2, it is determined whether or not the instance common information regarding the read definition 111 has been created. In this case, since it has not been created, the process proceeds to step A3.

In step A3, the definition 11
Create the instance common information for No. 1. Here, the instance common information 41 shown in FIG. 8 is created. Record 411, Record 412, and Record 4
In 13, a value is determined from the data of the definition 111 and stored in each record.

In step A4, the definition 11
It is determined whether or not all instance specific information for one lower cell has been created. In the reference record of the definition 111, two lower cells exist (instance names “Asub1”, “A
sub2 "). In this case, since no instance-specific information has been created for the lower cell, the process proceeds to step A5.

In step A, step 5 executes this flow recursively. The designated cell has the cell name “A”. The instance name is “Asub1”. The x coordinate is "As
ub1x ”. This value is created from x1. The y coordinate is “Asub1y”. This value is created from y1. The process proceeds to Step A1. The following flow,
It is assumed that the flow is for the instance name “Asub1”.

At step A1, the record of the definition of the designated cell is read. In this case, the designated cell is a cell having the cell name “A”. Therefore, the definition 112 is read.

At step A2, the definition 11
It is determined whether the second instance common information has been created. In this case, since it has not been created, the process proceeds to step A3.

At Step A3, the instance common information 42 shown in FIG. 8 is created. Record 421, Record 42
2 and record 423 are the definition 112
Is determined from the data of the above, and stored in the record.

In step A4, the definition 11
It is determined whether or not all the instance-specific information for the second lower cell has been created. In the reference record of the definition 112, no lower cell exists. Therefore, the process proceeds to step A6.

In step A6, instance specific information is created. In this case, the instance specific information 52 shown in FIG. 9 is created from the information of the record 42 and the definition 112 of FIG. Record 521 contains
An instance name of “Asub1” is given. The record 522 stores an x coordinate value. Record 523
Stores the y-coordinate value. The record 524 stores the hash value of the instance common information 42. Record 525 is not created at this time. The record 526 stores information of an expression that does not exist. This is because, in this case, the instance specific information of the same hierarchy has not been created. The record 527 stores information of an expression that does not exist. This information is available at definition 112
Created from the reference record.

Then, the processing for the instance name “Asub1” ends.

Subsequently, the processing returns to the processing flow for the root cell. In step A4 of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not all the instance specific information for the lower cell of the definition 111 has been created. In the reference record of the definition 111, two lower cells exist ("Asub1" and "Asu1").
b2 ").

In this case, as the instance specific information for the lower cell, only “Asub1” of the two cells is created. All instance information has not been created. Therefore, the process proceeds to step A5.

At step A5, this process is executed recursively. The designated cell is the cell name “A”, the instance name is “Asub2”, the x coordinate is “Asub2x”, y
The coordinates are “Asub2y”. The processing is performed in step A1.
Move on to The processing flow at this level is a flow for the instance name “Asub2”.

The processing for the instance name “Asub2” is performed in steps A1, A2, A4,
The processing is performed in the order of step A6. In this case, the definition 112 is read and the instance specific information 53 is created. The process of being created depends on the instance name "A
This is almost the same as the processing flow for “sub1”.

In the record 536 (see FIG. 9), a pointer is stored so as to be inserted into a chain list of instance-specific information in the same hierarchy.

Thus, the instance name “Asub
The processing flow for "2" ends.

The process returns to the flow for the root cell.

In step A4 in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not all instance specific information has been created for lower cells of the definition 111. in this case,
Since all the instance specific information for the lower cell has been created, the process proceeds to step A6.

At step A6, instance specific information is created. In this case, the instance specific information 51 of FIG. 9 is the record 41 and the definition 1 of FIG.
11 information. The record 511, the record 512, and the record 513 store the value specified at the time of calling this flow. Record 514 contains
The hash value to the instance common information 41 is stored. Record 515 is not created here. The record 516 stores information of an expression that does not exist. This is because there is no instance-specific information at the same level. The record 517 stores a pointer to the instance unique information 53. This is because the instance unique information 53 is the head of the chain list of the instance unique information of the same hierarchy.

In the case of this processing routine, the lower-level instance specific information created in the immediately preceding step A5 becomes the head of the chain list.

Then, the processing flow for the root cell ends.

Next, the operation of the connection information generating means 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 2 and the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 and FIGS. 9 and 10.

In step B1 of FIG. 7, unprocessed instance specific information is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 of FIG. In the present embodiment, the instance specific information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 of FIG. 1 is configured as shown in FIG. The instance specific information to be read is
The order does not matter. Here, the instance specific information 52
Select

In the next step B2, it is determined whether or not the instance unique information has been extracted in step B1.
Here, since it has been taken out, the process moves to step B3.

At step B3, the net information of the instance specific information 52 extracted at step B1 is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11. Here, the first line of the net record of the definition 112 is extracted. From the record 524, the instance common information corresponding to the instance unique information 52 can be identified as the instance unique information 42, and the definition to be read can be selected therefrom.

In step B4, it is determined whether or not the information of the net has been extracted in the immediately preceding step B3. Here, since it has been taken out, the process proceeds to step B5.

In step B5, it is determined whether or not the net connection information created from the data of the net extracted in step B3 has been created. In this case, since it has not been created, the process proceeds to step B6.

In step B6, the equipotential number is determined. Here, the equipotential number is determined to be 1.

At step B7, network connection information is created. Since the equipotential number determined in step B6 is "1", the net connection information 61 is created in the first element of the array of the table 600. Further, the equipotential number 1 is added to the record 525 of the instance unique information 52. The record 611 stores the net name from the net information extracted in step B3. Record 612
Remain undecided.

In step B8, it is determined whether or not the connection destination net connection information has been created. In this case, since there is no connection destination, the process proceeds to step B3.

In step B3, the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1
The second line of the net record of the first definition 112 is extracted. However, in this case, it cannot be taken out.

In step B4, since there is no net in step B3, the process proceeds to step B1.

Thus, the instance specific information 5
2 (see FIG. 9) was created.

Further, net connection information of the instance specific information 53 is created in the same manner as in the above-described method.

First, the instance specific information 53 is read (step B1, step B2).

Next, a net is read from the definition 112 used to create the instance specific information 53 (step B3, step B4).

Next, net connection information is created from the previously read net and stored (step B5, step B).
6, Step B7, Step B8). In this process, the network connection information 62 (see FIG. 10) is created. Further, the equipotential number 2 is stored in the record 535 (see FIG. 9).

Finally, since all the net records of the definition 112 have been read, the processing shifts to step B1 (step B3, step B4).

As described above, the instance specific information 5
3 is created.

Further, net connection information of the instance specific information 51 is created.

First, the instance specific information 51 is read (step B1, step B2).

Next, the first line of the net record is read from the definition 111 used when creating the instance specific information (step B3, step B).
4).

Next, net connection information is created from the previously read net and stored (step B5, step B).
6, Step B7, Step B8). In this process, the network connection information 63 is created. Further, the equipotential number 3 is stored in the record 515 (see FIG. 9).

At step B8, it is determined whether or not the connection destination network connection information has been created. In this case, since it has not been created (the connection destination of the network connection information 61 has not been determined),
The process moves to step B9.

At step B9, a connection destination equipotential number is determined. In this case, it becomes 1 which is the equipotential of the net connection information 61. Here, “1” is stored in the record 632 (see FIG. 10).

At step B10, 3 is added to the record 612.
Is stored.

Similarly to the above, the record of the net in the second row is processed.

The net record in the second line is read (step B3, step B4).

Since the network connection information has not been created,
The network connection information 64 is created (Step B5, Step B6, Step B7).

The network connection information of the connection destination is created, and the connection destination is determined. That is, “2” is stored in the record 642. “4” is stored in the record 622 (FIG. 1).
0).

Next, since all the net information of the instance specific information 51 has been read, the process proceeds to step B1 (step B3, step B4).

At step B1, instance unique information is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 of FIG. Here, since all instance specific information has been extracted, it cannot be extracted.

In step B2, it is determined whether or not the instance unique information has been extracted in step B1. In this case, the process is terminated because it could not be taken out.

With the above processing, hierarchical electronic circuit connection information is generated.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the processing flow of the connection information generating means 22 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 12, as compared with the configuration of FIG. 7, there is no step B1,
2. The difference is that step C3 is added.

The operation of the connection information generating means 22 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

At step C1, one definition is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data.

In step C2, it is determined in step C1 whether or not there is a definition.
If there is a definition, the process moves to step B3. If there is no definition, the process ends. That is, in this step, the processing after step B3 is performed for all the definitions of the hierarchical electronic circuit data.

At step B3, one net is read from the definition read at step C1.

In step B4, it is determined whether there is a net in step B3. If there is a net, the process moves to step C3. If there is no net, the process proceeds to step C1.

At Step C3, one instance specific information created from the definition is read.

In step B2, it is determined whether or not there is instance specific information in step C3. If there is instance specific information, the process proceeds to step B5. If there is no instance-specific information, the process proceeds to step B3.

In step B5, it is determined whether the net read in step B3 has already been created. If it has been created, the process moves to step C3. If not, the process moves to step B5.

At step B6, the equipotential number is determined. The equipotential number is determined so that there is no same number in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information as needed. here,
.., N−1, n are determined.
If the equipotential number has already been determined, it is determined using the already created number.

At step B7, network connection information is created. The equipotential numbers required when creating net connection information are
The equipotential number determined in the immediately preceding step B6 is used.

In step B8, it is determined whether or not the connection destination net connection information has been created. If you have already created
The process moves to step C3. Even if there is no connection destination, it is regarded as created. If not, the process moves to step B9.

At Step B9, the equipotential number of the connection destination is determined. The equipotential number is determined in the same manner as in step B6.

At Step B10, the network connection information of the connection destination is created. Here, the network connection information that is the connection destination of the network connection information created in step B7 is created. As the equipotential number, the equipotential number determined in step B9 is used.

As described above, the network connection information is generated.

With the above processing, hierarchical electronic circuit connection information is generated.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 11, a description will be given of a specific example of hierarchical electronic circuit data.

First, the input hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 of FIG. 2 is processed by the cell hierarchical information generating means 21 of the data processing device 2 of FIG.
Is generated as cell hierarchy information.

The operation of the cell hierarchy information generating means 21 of the data processing device 2 is the same as that described in the above embodiment. As described above, the data shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are stored in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 31 of FIG.

The operation of the connection information generating means 22 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, the hierarchical electronic circuit data 11 shown in FIG.
This will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In step C1, the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1
Read one definition from 1. In this case, the definition 112 is read.

In step C2, it is determined whether or not there is a definition in step C1 executed immediately before. In this case, since the definition 112 has been read, the process proceeds to Step B3.

At step B3, one net is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data. Here is Definition 1
The first line of the 12 nets is read.

In step B4, it is determined whether or not there is a net in step B3 executed immediately before.
In this case, since the data has been read, the process proceeds to step C3.
Transfer to A step C3 reads one instance specific information created from the definition 112. The instance specific information 52 (see FIG. 10) is read.

In step B2, it is determined whether or not there is instance specific information in step C3 executed immediately before. In this case, the instance specific information 52
Then, the process proceeds to Step B5.

At step B5, it is determined whether the network connection information read at step B3 has been created. In this case, since it has not been created, the process proceeds to step B6.

At step B6, an equipotential number is determined. Here, the equipotential number is determined to be 1.

At step B7, net connection information is created. Since the equipotential number determined in step B6 is 1, the net connection information 61 is created in the first element of the array of the table 600. Also, instance specific information 5
The equipotential number 1 is added to the record 525 of No. 2 (see FIG. 9). The record 611 stores the net name from the net information extracted in step B3. Record 6
12 remains undecided.

At step B8, it is determined whether or not the connection destination net connection information has been created. In this case, since there is no connection destination, the process proceeds to Step C3.

Thus, the net connection information of the instance specific information 52 has been created.

Similarly, the network connection information of the instance unique information 53 is created.

First, the instance specific information 53 is read (step C3, step B2).

Next, the network connection information 62 is created (step B5, step B6, step B7, step B).
8).

As described above, the net connection information of the instance specific information 53 has been created.

In this case, since the instance specific information created from the definition 112 does not exist, the processing shifts to step B3 (step C3, step B3).
2).

Since the net record of the definition 112 has been read, the process proceeds to step C1 (step B3, step B4).

As described above, all the net connection information created from the definition 112 can be created.

Similarly, the definition 111 is performed.

The definition 111 is read from the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1 (step C1, step C2).

The first line of the net record is read, and the instance specific information 51 is read (step B3, step B4, step C3, step B2).

Next, net connection information is created from the previously read net and stored (step B5, step B).
6, step B7). In this process, the network connection information 63
Is created. The record 515 stores the equipotential number 3.

In step B8, it is determined whether the connection destination network connection information has been created. In this case, the process has not been completed (the connection destination of the network connection information 61 has not been determined), and thus the process proceeds to Step B9.

In step B9, the connection destination equipotential number is determined. In this case, it becomes 1 which is the equipotential of the net connection information 61. Here, 1 is stored in the record 632.

A step B10 stores "3" in the record 612 (see FIG. 10).

Next, since there is no more instance-specific information created from the definition, the process proceeds to step B3 (step C3, step B3).
2).

As before, the record of the net in the second row is also processed.

The second line of the net record is read, and the instance specific information 51 is read (step B3, step B4, step C3, step B2).

Since the network connection information has not been created,
The network connection information 64 is created (Step B5, Step B6, Step B7).

The network connection information of the connection destination is created, and the connection destination is determined. That is, 2 is stored in the record 642. 4 is stored in the record 622 (step B8,
Step B9, Step B10).

Next, since there is no more instance-specific information created from the definition, the process moves to step B3 (step C3, step B3).
2).

Since all the net records of the definition 111 have been read, the processing is shifted to C1 (step B3, step B4).

Since all the definitions of the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1 have been read, the process ends (step C).
1, Step C2).

As described above, the net connection information created from the same definition can be created by reading the definition once. This allows
Even if there are many instances created from the same definition, high-speed net connection information can be created. This is the hierarchical electronic circuit data file 1
However, this is particularly effective when inputting a disk or a tape requires a long time, or when the storage device 3 is a high-speed accessible means such as a memory or a hard disk device. In this case, by reading the definition 112 once, the network connection information relating to the instance unique information 52 and the instance unique information 53 is created.

Through the above processing, hierarchical electronic circuit connection information is created.

According to the above-described embodiment, of the information necessary for expressing an electronic circuit, information that can be shared is stored as instance common information, and only information that cannot be shared is stored as instance specific information. Compared to the conventional method,
The capacity of a storage device required for storing data can be reduced. The details will be described below.

The number of definitions included in the hierarchical electronic circuit data 1 in FIG. Let I be the number of times the definition is referenced. The capacity required to store the information of one instance is defined as Iall. Of these, Icom is the capacity required to store commonizable information as instance common information. Also, let Isub be the capacity required to store other information as instance-specific information.

In actual hierarchical electronic circuit data, the number of references to a definition is larger than the number of definitions.

For example, the number of definitions (D)
Is set to “50”. Each definition represents the sum of the number (I) referred to in the entire electronic circuit as “1, 0”.
00,000 ". The capacity (Icom) required to store one instance common information table is “2”.
4 ". This is a value calculated for the record in the table 40 of FIG. The record 401 is a character string. One capacity is required for one character, and the average character string length is assumed to be “16”. Record 402 and record 403 are assumed to have a capacity of “4”.

The capacity (Isub) required to store one instance specific information table is “52”. This is a value calculated for the record in the table 50 of FIG. The average character string length of the table 501 is set to “1”.
6 ", records 502 to 507 are all" 4 ".
And the capacity required for the equipotential number referenced from the table 504 is assumed to be “12”. In this case, the required capacity (Iall) for expressing information of one instance is “76”. Iall = Ic
om + Isub.

In this embodiment, the storage capacity required to store the cell hierarchy information can be expressed as D × Icom + I × Isub. Therefore, in this case, the capacity of the storage device necessary to express the cell hierarchy information is “5”.
2,001,200 ".

In the case of the conventional method, a capacity of Iall is required to store one instance information. Therefore, in the conventional case, it can be expressed as I × Iall. Therefore, in this case, the capacity of the storage device necessary to express the cell hierarchy information is “76,000,000,
0 ".

As described above, under the above condition, the capacity of the storage device required to express the cell hierarchy information is about 42%
It can be seen that it has been reduced. In this manner, even if the number of referenced definitions increases, it is possible to suppress an increase in storage device capacity required for storage.

In the above embodiment, the processing time required for storing data can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.
The reason is that, in the present invention, the entire development processing of the hierarchical structure of the electronic circuit is not performed. According to the conventional method, the amount of calculation is compared with the case of performing all expansion processing.

As an example, a hierarchical electronic circuit having three layers will be described. It is assumed that each cell has 1,000 lower cells inside. In this case, the first layer is a layer having one cell including only the root cell. The second layer is composed of 1,000 lower cells of the root cell of the first layer. The third layer is composed of 1,000 lower cells for each cell of the second layer. In the third hierarchy, there are 1,000,000 cells.
It is assumed that there are an average of five nets per cell. Here, the calculation time required to develop one net for one cell is defined as one calculation amount.

In the conventional method, since the entire development process is performed, the calculation amount is as follows.

First, all nets in the cells of the third hierarchy are expanded. The calculation amount in that case is 1,000,000 × 5 ×
It is one. As a result, cells existing in the third hierarchy can be expanded. As a result, there are 5,005 nets per 1,000 cells in the second hierarchy.
Next, all nets in the cell of the second hierarchy are expanded. The amount of calculation in that case is 1,000 × 5005 × 1.

Finally, all nets in the root cell of the first hierarchy are expanded. The amount of calculation in that case is 1 × 5 × 1. Therefore, conventionally, 10,005,005 computational amounts are required.

In the embodiment described above, nets are developed in the hierarchical structure of cells. Therefore, in order to expand all nets in an electronic circuit, it is only necessary to expand the net once per cell.

That is, 1,000,000 in the third hierarchy
For individual cells, 1,000,000 x 5
A calculation amount of × 1 is required. In the second layer, 1,000
A calculation amount of × 5 × 1 is required. In the first layer, 1 × 5
A calculation amount of × 1 is required. Therefore, in the present invention,
Processing is possible with a total of 5,005,005 calculations.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is understood that the amount of calculation required to develop a net is reduced by about 50% under the above conditions.

As described above, the processing time required for storing data can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.

The cell hierarchy information generating means 21 shown in FIG.
Processing steps A1 to A6, processing steps B1 to B10, C1 of the connection information generating means 22 shown in FIGS.
Each process of C2 and C3 can be realized by a program executed on the data processing device 2. in this case,
The present invention can be implemented by reading and executing the program from a storage medium storing the program.

[0226]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The first effect of the present invention is that connection information capable of individually identifying all nets in an electronic circuit while having a hierarchical structure can be formed, and a cell configured for each function in the electronic circuit can be constructed. This means that output and editing can be performed without deteriorating the degree of freedom of design as a unit of editing.

The reason is that, in the present invention, the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information to be created has a hierarchical structure of cells,
Furthermore, it is because of having a net connection expression uniquely expressed in the electronic circuit from the hierarchical structure of the cells.

The second effect of the present invention is that
This means that the capacity of the storage device required for storing data can be reduced.

The reason is that, in the present invention, of information necessary for expressing an electronic circuit, information that can be shared is held as instance common information, and information that cannot be shared is held as instance unique information. That's why.

A third effect of the present invention is that the processing time required for storing data can be reduced as compared with the conventional method.

The reason is that, in the present invention, the entire development processing of the hierarchical structure of the electronic circuit is not performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of hierarchical electronic circuit data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of instance common information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of instance specific information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of network connection information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a cell hierarchy information generating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a connection information generating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a data structure of instance common information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a data structure of instance specific information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of a data structure of network connection information in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic circuit for explaining one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a processing flow of connection information generating means in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a conventional method.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 hierarchical electronic circuit data 2 data processing device 3 storage device 4 output means / editing means 21 cell hierarchical information generating means 22 connection information generating means 31 hierarchical electronic circuit connection information 40, 41 instance common information 50, 51, 52, 53 instances Specific information 60 to 64 Net connection information 81, 82, 83 Circuit 811, 812 Wiring 111, 112 Definition 400 Table 401 to 403, 411 to 413, 421 to 423 Records 501 to 507, 511 to 517, 521 to 527, 5
31 to 537 records 600 tables 601, 602, 611, 612, 621, 622, 6
31,632,641,642 records

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-9-293090 (JP, A) JP-A-8-320892 (JP, A) JP-A-7-121594 (JP, A) JP-A-6-129594 187395 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/50 H01L 21/82

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. An instance common information which is inputted for each definition of each cell in the hierarchical electronic circuit data by inputting the hierarchical electronic circuit data and which can be made common among the instance information, Created for each instance of every definition of circuit data,
A cell hierarchical information cell configured to store hierarchical electronic circuit connection information including cell hierarchical information including instance specific information including information uniquely expressed for each instance in the instance information and to store the information in a storage device; Generating means, and connection information generating means, which is created for each instance-specific information as the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information, and configures net connection information expressing equipotential connections and stores the same in the storage device, In the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information, nets are held in a state where the hierarchical structure of cells is held, and connection information capable of individually identifying all nets in the electronic circuit while having a hierarchical structure is provided. A hierarchical storage system for electronic circuit connection information data. 2. A cell record including information on a cell name, a cell height and a cell width of one cell as the definition, the cell name and the instance of a cell referred to by the cell as the definition. 2. The electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 1, wherein a reference record including a name, coordinates, a net name including the cell, a connection destination instance name, and a net record including a connection destination net name are included for each cell. Hierarchical storage system. 3. The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information stored in the storage device, wherein the instance common information is a cell name, a cell height, and a cell width created from information of the cell record of each definition. 2. The hierarchical storage system for electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 1, wherein the system has a data structure including: an instance common information unit including a record as a record; and a table pointing to the instance common information unit. 4. The hierarchical type of electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 3, wherein said table is configured to point said instance common information unit by a hash value generated from a cell name. Storage system. 5. In the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information stored in the storage device, the instance specific information for storing information that cannot be shared is an instance name, coordinates,
The information unit includes a point value to the instance common information, a net included in the own instance, a pointer to an instance specific information unit in the same hierarchy, and a pointer to an instance in a lower hierarchy as a record. Item 2. A hierarchical storage system for electronic circuit connection information data according to item 1. 6. The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information stored in the storage device, wherein the net connection information includes, in net units, an information unit including a net name and its connection destination information. The hierarchical storage system for electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 1. 7. In the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information stored in the storage device, the connection information generating means assigns an equipotential number to a net, and stores a net in the instance specific information, 2. The electronic circuit according to claim 1, wherein an equipotential number of the net is stored, and the net connection information includes a table in which an information unit including a net name and its connection destination information is pointed by an equipotential number. Hierarchical storage system for connection information data. 8. (a) Hierarchical structure electronic circuit data is input, and the definition of all the cells in the hierarchical electronic circuit data is created for each definition, and information that can be made common in instance information Cell hierarchy information comprising: instance common information consisting of: and instance specific information consisting of information that is created for all instances of the hierarchical electronic circuit data and is uniquely expressed for each instance in the instance information. Constructing the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information and storing the same in a storage device, and (b) a net connection that is created in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information for each instance-specific information and expresses an equipotential connection. Composing information and storing the information in the storage device. The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information maintains a hierarchical structure of cells. Nets in state is held while having a hierarchical structure having a separately identifiable connection information all nets in an electronic circuit, a method of storing an electronic circuit connection information data, characterized in that. 9. The step (a) includes the steps of: (a1) specifying a cell name of a root cell of the hierarchical electronic circuit data, and reading a definition record of the specified cell from the hierarchical electronic circuit data; (A2) a step of determining whether or not instance common information has already been created for the read definition record; (a3) if the instance common information has not been created, the read definition record (A4) a step of determining whether all lower cells of the read definition have been created, (a5) a case where there is an uncreated cell, The process from (a1) above is recursively specified by designating the lower cell determined to be uncreated. Step, and, (a6) if you create all subcells, read storage method of the electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 8, wherein the the definition comprising the step of creating the instance-specific information. 10. The step (b) comprises: (b1) reading instance specific information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information; and (b2) defining a net of a definition from the hierarchical electronic circuit data for the instance specific information. (B3) It is determined whether or not the read net has already been created by searching the net information of the instance of the instance specific information. If not, the equipotential number of the net is determined. Determining and creating net connection information including the net name and connection destination information; and (b4) determining the equipotential number of the connection destination and creating the net connection information of the connection destination. 9. The method for storing electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 8, wherein: 11. The step (b) comprises: (b1) reading a definition from hierarchical electronic circuit data; reading a net from the read definition; and (b2) creating a net from the definition if there is a net. (B3) It is determined whether the read net has already been created by searching the net information of the instance of the instance unique information, and if the instance unique information has not been created. Determining the equipotential number of the net, and creating net connection information including the net name and the connection destination information; and (b4) determining the equipotential number of the connection destination and the net connection information of the connection destination. 9. The method for storing electronic circuit connection information data according to claim 8, further comprising the step of: 12. A data processing device and a storage device, comprising: (a) inputting hierarchical electronic circuit data, and creating all the definitions in the hierarchical electronic circuit data for each of the definitions; The instance information includes instance common information that can be shared and information that is created for all instances of the hierarchical electronic circuit data and that is uniquely expressed for each instance in the instance information. A process of storing hierarchical electronic circuit connection information including cell hierarchy information having instance specific information in the storage device; and (b) instance specific information in the hierarchical electronic circuit connection information in the storage device. And a process of configuring net connection information that is created for each connection and expresses equipotential connections. The hierarchical electronic circuit connection information includes: In the electronic circuit connection information data storage system, the nets are held in a state where the hierarchical structure of the cells is held, and the network has connection information capable of individually identifying all the nets in the electronic circuit while having the hierarchical structure. A recording medium on which a program for executing the processes of a) and (b) by the data processing device is recorded.