JP3062149B2 - Automatic wiring method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic wiring method for a semiconductor integrated circuit device, and more particularly to a functional block having complementary wiring terminal pairs (referred to as "complementary terminal pairs") that need to be wired in equal lengths and in parallel. The present invention relates to a method for automatic wiring between devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a differential input / output functional block composed of a CML (current mode logic) circuit or the like, complementary signal lines for connecting the functional blocks are most preferably arranged in parallel with equal lengths. desirable.

[0003] The reason is that the input of the next stage must be
This is because the complementary signal is input, and if the delay difference between the complementary signal pair is large, the circuit malfunctions.

[0004] In particular, with the recent development of communication equipment,
Since a high-speed operation circuit is required, the influence of the delay difference of the complementary signal may be large.

[0005] As an example of a conventional automatic wiring system for wiring complementary terminal pairs between functional blocks with the same length, there is known, for example, one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-154531.

In this method, as shown in FIG. 5, a complementary terminal pair (2) is prepared in advance at an arbitrary position in the functional block (1), and the complementary terminal pair (2) is prepared.
Is regarded as one terminal, and automatic wiring is performed.

After that, the wiring pattern is divided into pre-designated patterns, each of which is applied to a separately-designated pattern generation method, and these are connected to form a horizontal pattern into one layer and a vertical pattern. By allocating a pattern to another layer, an equal-length wiring can be configured.

[0008]

However, this conventional automatic wiring method has the following problems.

The first problem is that when creating a functional block,
That is, the position of the complementary terminal pair (2) must be arranged adjacent to the periphery of the functional block (1).

That is, referring to FIG. 5, by setting the positions of the complementary terminal pairs (2) adjacent to each other, the wiring between the functional blocks (1) can be wired with the same length. Since the position of the virtual complementary terminal pair (2) for wiring is fixed, extra wraparound wiring is generated as shown in FIG. 5B depending on the arrangement position of the functional block (1).

A second problem is that the design of the functional block (1) is complicated in order to fix the position of the complementary terminal pair (2).

[0012] Further, in the case where the same terminal is provided in plural in order to pursue the easiness of terminal connection, a problem such as an increase in prohibition information appears (for example, a functional block FB in FIG. 5B: B).

A third problem is that the complementary terminal pair (2) for designating equal-length wiring must be adjacent to the functional block (1) in advance, so that the position of the actual complementary terminal pair (2B) is changed. , There may be a difference in the wiring length from the complementary terminal pair for isometric wiring (2). As a result, it cannot be said that the wiring is an exact equal-length wiring.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an automatic wiring between functional blocks having complementary wiring terminal pairs that need to be wired in equal length and in parallel. The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic wiring method that increases the degree of freedom in designing functional blocks and realizes accurate equal-length wiring.

[0015]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for connecting functional blocks having terminal pairs for complementary wiring, which need to be wired with equal lengths, to one of the functional blocks. setting a plurality of base points complementary terminal pair of inner to outer of the one function block
And from the complementary terminal pairs in the other functional blocks
Set multiple base points outside other functional blocks
And one base for each functional block.
Selecting a point .
Via a base point, one of the functional blocks
From the complementary terminal pair of the other
The wiring up to the complementary terminal pair is made equal in wiring length.
It is a line .

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the automatic wiring method according to the present invention, a virtual terminal pair (7) in which complementary terminal pairs (2) for equal-length wiring are drawn out of the functional block (1) and adjacent to each other. (Referred to as "virtual terminal pair") and processing for automatically wiring the complementary terminal pair (2) and the virtual terminal pair (7).
The automatic wiring between the virtual terminal pairs (7) is performed by using the automatic wiring technology between the complementary terminal pairs (2) shown in Japanese Patent No. 154531 and the like.

Thus, when the functional block (1) is created, it is not necessary to draw out the complementary terminal pairs to the periphery of the block and to arrange them adjacently, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in setting the terminal positions when creating the functional block (1).

Further, since it is not necessary to provide a plurality of identical terminals in order to pursue the ease of terminal connection, the wiring prohibition information in the functional block information does not need to increase.

Further, by connecting the functional blocks (1) using the method of the present invention, the complementary wiring in the functional block (1) is also equal in length, so that the equal length accuracy is higher than in the conventional wiring method. Can be improved.

[0020]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, a flow of arranging a virtual terminal pair (7) from a complementary terminal pair (2) in a functional block (1) (Steps S1 to S1).
0) and a flow of wiring between the complementary terminal pair (2) and the virtual terminal pair (7) in the functional block (1) (step S11).
And the wiring flow between the complementary terminal pairs described in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-154531 (step S12)
And is configured.

The process of automatically arranging the virtual terminal pair from the complementary terminal pair in the functional block, the process of wiring between the complementary terminal pair and the virtual terminal pair in the functional block, and the process of automatically wiring the complementary terminal pair are performed automatically. This is realized by a program executed on a computer configuring the placement and routing system.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a result of equal-length wiring obtained by one embodiment of the wiring method of the present invention. Arbitrary complementary terminal pair (2) of functional block (1) and virtual terminal pair (7)
And a perpendicular line (3) for obtaining the same, a base point (5), and a complementary wire (8) having the same length.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

In order to automatically arrange the virtual terminal pairs for the equal length wiring between the functional blocks, an initial setting must be made in advance.
Terminal information indicating that there is a complementary terminal pair (2) is added to the functional block information (D1) (step S1).
1).

A virtual wiring grid (4) is defined in the board information (D2) in addition to the real wiring grid (6) (step S2).

The functional block (1) is arranged on the substrate according to the circuit connection information (D3) (step S3).

A connection between the functional blocks (1) having the complementary terminal pair (2) is searched from the circuit connection information (D3) (step S4).

A perpendicular line (3) passing through the center (9) of a straight line connecting two points of the complementary terminal pair (2) of the functional block (1) is obtained (step S5).

A point that first intersects with the virtual wiring grid (4) outside the functional block (1) on the extension of the perpendicular (3) is determined as a base point (5) of the virtual terminal pair (7) (step). S6).

There are two base points (5) outside and above (or left and right of) the function block (1) (the base points (FB: A, FB: B, FB: C in FIG. 2) of the function block (1)). 5)).

If the perpendicular (3) obtained in step S5 is the same as the axis of the actual wiring grid (6), there are four base points (5) (function block FB in FIG. 2C). : Base point of D (5)).

Next, the base points (5) having the shortest linear distance from the connection destination base point (5) are set as a base point (5) pair of each functional block (1) (step S7). . However, when the linear distances are the same, a base point (5) on the plus side in the X direction (or Y direction) is selected from the center (9) of the straight line connecting the two points of the complementary terminal pair (2).

Next, the direction in which the grid number difference between the coordinates of the two points of the complementary terminal pair (2) in the functional block (1) is small (X direction,
Or Y direction) (step S8). For example, in the functional block FB: A of FIG. 2A, the difference between the lattice numbers of the complementary terminal pair (2) is X = 2, Y = 1, and the difference between Y is smaller. Become.

However, if the difference in the number of grids between X and Y is the same, Y
Give priority to the direction. For example, in the case of FB: B in FIG. 2B, the difference in the number of lattices of the complementary terminal pair (2) is X = 2, Y = 2, and the direction is Y because the Y direction has priority.

Next, with respect to the center (9) of the straight line connecting the two points of the complementary terminal pair (2), the value of the direction obtained in step S8 among the relative coordinates of the base point (5) is obtained. The sign (plus or minus) of the value is obtained (step S9). For example, in the case of FB: A in FIG. 2A, since the relative coordinate in the Y direction is +3 in the number of grids, the sign is +: plus.

Next, the four intersections of the X-axis and the Y-axis of the real wiring grid (6) surrounding the base point (5) are located in the direction determined in step S8 and the position of the sign determined in step S9. Two points are set as terminal points of the virtual terminal pair (7) (step S10). For example, in the functional block FB: A of FIG. 2A, two points in the + Y direction are the virtual terminal pair (7).

The virtual terminal pair (7) obtained as described above
And the complementary wiring terminal (2) in the functional block (1) are wired as short as possible in a wiring layer above the wiring layer constituting the functional block (1) (step S11).

As a result, the two wirings have the same length. For example, in FB: A of FIG.
-1 = A-2.

However, if the sum (X + Y) of the difference in the number of grids of the two points of the complementary terminal pair (2) in the functional block (1) is an even number, there is a difference of one grid. For example, F in FIG.
B: In B, B-1> B-2.

Then, with respect to the virtual terminal pair (7) obtained by the above method, the virtual terminal pair (7) is regarded as one terminal, as in the wiring method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-154531 or the like. Perform automatic wiring.

Thereafter, the wiring pattern is divided into pre-designated patterns, and the divided patterns are further applied to the pattern generation methods specified in advance for each of the patterns. These patterns are connected to form a horizontal pattern into one layer and a vertical pattern in the vertical direction. The pattern is assigned to another layer, and the complementary wirings (8) between the functional blocks (1) are wired in equal length and in parallel (step S12).
The processing of each step described above can be realized by a program on a computer constituting the automatic wiring system.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wiring result according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the second embodiment of the present invention is a process for automatically wiring the complementary terminal pair (2) and the virtual terminal pair (7) in the embodiment shown in FIG. Subsequent to the flow (step S11), a processing flow (steps T1 to T5) for correcting the equal-length wiring in the functional block (1) with the functional block (1) to be connected is added.

In connection between the functional blocks (1),
A case is selected in which the base point (5) obtained in step S6 includes one or more functional blocks (1) having four locations (step T1).

The wiring length of each equal-length wiring in the functional block (1) of the functional block (1) selected in step T1 is determined (step T2).

The function block (1) adds the wiring lengths of the same length in the corresponding function block (1) (step T3). For example, in the case of FIG. 4A, (E-1) + (D
-1) = 7 + 5 = 12, (E-2) + (D-2) = 8 +
4 = 12.

The added wiring lengths are compared with each other (step T4).

If the result of comparison is the same, the flow advances to the next step S12.

If there is a difference between two grids, the base point (5) on the side of the functional block (1) having four base points (5) is shifted by one grid from the currently selected location. Change to base point (5) (step T
5). For example, in the case of FIG. 4B, the first FBs: F and F
B: Addition and comparison of equal-length wiring in the block of D is (F-1)
+ (D-1) = 5 + 5 = 10, (F-2) + (D-2)
= 4 + 4 = 8, and there is a difference of two lattices.

Therefore, the base point of FB: D is changed by one grid to the next.

Thus, (F-1) + (D-1) =
5 + 4 = 9, (F−2) + (D−2) = 4 + 5 = 9, and there is no difference.

As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, when four base points (5) are provided, the lattice difference between the two points of the complementary terminal pair (2) in the functional block (1) is obtained. Even if the sum of (X + Y) is an even number, it is possible to correct the equal-length wiring in the functional block (1), and the effect of improving the accuracy of the equal-length wiring is obtained.

[0053]

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

The first effect of the present invention is that, since the virtual terminal pair can be arranged after the arrangement of the functional blocks, it is not necessary to consider the terminal positions when creating the functional block data. It can be increased.

Further, according to the present invention, since it is not necessary to provide a plurality of the same terminals in order to pursue the easiness of terminal connection, it is not necessary to increase the wiring prohibition information in the functional block information. It also has advantages.

As a second effect of the present invention, by connecting the functional blocks according to the present invention, the complementary wiring in the functional block is also equal in length, so that automatic wiring with improved equal length accuracy can be performed. It is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C are diagrams illustrating examples of automatic wiring results obtained according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are diagrams illustrating examples of automatic wiring results obtained according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an automatic wiring result obtained by a conventional automatic wiring method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Functional Block 2 Complementary Terminal Pair 3 Perpendicular Line 4 Virtual Wiring Grid 5 Base Point 6 Real Wiring Grid 7 Virtual Terminal Pair 8 Equal Length Wiring 9 Center of Straight Line Connecting Two Points of Complementary Terminal Pair

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/82 G06F 17/50

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] When wiring is performed between functional blocks having complementary wiring terminal pairs that need to be wired with equal lengths, a plurality of functional blocks are arranged outside the one functional block from the complementary terminal pairs in the one functional block. Setting a plurality of base points outside of the other functional block from a complementary terminal pair in the other functional block, and selecting one base point for each functional block And interconnecting each of the pair of complementary terminals in one of the functional blocks from the pair of complementary terminals in the other of the functional blocks via the selected base point. An automatic wiring method, wherein wiring is performed with equal lengths. 2. The automatic wiring method according to claim 1, wherein a pair of virtual terminals, which are obtained by extracting complementary terminal pairs for equal-length wiring outside the functional block and adjacent thereto, are set based on the selected base point. Automatically arranging; and automatically wiring the complementary terminal pairs and the virtual terminal pairs. The functional blocks are provided by equal-length complementary wiring between the virtual terminal pairs of the functional blocks. An automatic wiring method, wherein automatic wiring between complementary terminal pairs is performed. 3. When wiring between functional blocks having a terminal pair for complementary wiring which needs to be wired with equal lengths, a plurality of functional blocks are provided from a terminal pair in one of the functional blocks to an outside of the one functional block. A step of setting a base point; a step of setting a plurality of base points outside the other functional block from a terminal pair in the other functional block; and a base having a shortest linear distance from a base point to be connected. Using points as a base point pair for each functional block; setting a virtual terminal pair based on the base point pair; automatically wiring the complementary wiring terminal pair and the virtual terminal pair And making the wiring lengths from one complementary terminal pair in one functional block to another complementary terminal pair in another functional block equal to each other An automatic wiring method, wherein wiring is performed by using an automatic wiring method. 4. Wiring between functional blocks having a terminal pair for complementary wiring which needs to be wired with equal lengths.
An automatic wiring method for wiring from one complementary terminal pair in one functional block to another complementary terminal pair in another functional block with equal wiring lengths, wherein the functional block Automatically arranging a pair of virtual terminals adjacent to each other by pulling out complementary terminal pairs for equal-length wiring outside of the device, and automatically wiring the pair of virtual terminals and the pair of virtual terminals. By performing automatic wiring between complementary terminal pairs of the functional blocks by performing equal length complementary wiring between virtual terminal pairs of each functional block, wiring of complementary signals is performed in automatic wiring of the semiconductor integrated circuit. Characteristic automatic wiring method. 5. When wiring between functional blocks having a terminal pair for complementary wiring which needs to be wired with equal lengths,
An automatic wiring method for wiring from one complementary terminal pair in one functional block to another complementary terminal pair in another functional block with equal wiring lengths, wherein the functional block From the complementary terminal pair for equal-length wiring in the functional block, to the outside of the functional block, to derive a virtual terminal pair arranged adjacent to the functional block, and the complementary terminal pair in the functional block. Automatically routing the virtual terminal pairs, and automatically routing the virtual terminal pairs of the functional blocks with complementary wiring pairs of equal length and parallel to each other. Automatic wiring method for wiring complementary signals. 6. An automatic wiring method for wiring between functional blocks having complementary wiring terminal pairs that need to be wired in parallel with each other and having the same length, comprising: (a) two complementary terminal pairs of said functional block; Determining a perpendicular line passing through the center of the straight line connecting the points and orthogonal to the straight line; and (b) determining a point on the extension of the perpendicular line that first intersects a virtual wiring grid outside the functional block with a base point of the virtual terminal pair. (C) setting base points having the shortest linear distance from the base point of the connection-destination functional block to a base point pair of each functional block; and (d) Selecting one of the X or Y directions from the lattice difference between the X and Y coordinates of the coordinates of the two points of the complementary terminal pair; and (e) with respect to the center of the straight line connecting the two points of the complementary terminal pair. hand (F) determining the sign (positive or negative) of the direction of the relative coordinates of the base point; and (f) defining the direction and the sign with respect to four intersections of the X-axis and the Y-axis of the actual wiring grid surrounding the base point. And (g) using the determined virtual terminal pair and the complementary wiring terminals in the functional block to form a wiring layer forming the functional block. An automatic wiring method, comprising: a step of performing wiring in the shortest wiring layer above the wiring layer. 7. In the step (c), when the straight line distances are the same, a base point on the plus side in the X or Y direction is selected from the center of the straight line connecting the two points of the complementary terminal pair. 7. The automatic wiring method according to claim 6, wherein: 8. The automatic wiring method according to claim 6, wherein in the step (d), when the difference in the number of grids between X and Y is the same, a predetermined one is prioritized. 9. The method according to claim 9, wherein the virtual terminal pair is regarded as one terminal, automatic wiring is performed, and then the wiring pattern is divided into predetermined patterns. 7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: connecting the horizontal patterns to one layer and assigning the vertical patterns to another layer, and arranging complementary wirings between the functional blocks in the same length and in parallel. Automatic wiring method. 10. The function block has a base point of four.
If there are, the wiring lengths of the equal-length wirings in the functional blocks of the functional blocks are determined, the equal-length wiring lengths of the functional blocks corresponding to each other in the functional blocks are added, and the added wiring lengths are compared. If there is a lattice difference, the function block side having four base points is changed from the currently selected location to a base point one grid adjacent to the functional block side to correspond to the complementary terminal pair and the base point. Automatic wiring between virtual terminal pairs is performed, and if the added wiring lengths are equal, by performing equal-length wiring between virtual terminals, if there are four base points, two points of the complementary terminal pair in the functional block are provided. 7. The automatic wiring method according to claim 6 , wherein even if the total difference of the number of grids is an even number, the equal-length wiring in the functional block can be corrected. 11. Wiring between functional blocks having complementary wiring terminal pairs that need to be wired with equal lengths: (a) after arranging the functional blocks, outside the functional blocks, A process of extracting a complementary terminal pair for wiring to derive a virtual terminal pair arranged adjacently; (b) a process of automatically wiring the complementary terminal pair and the virtual terminal pair in the functional block; A process of performing automatic wiring between complementary terminal pairs of the functional blocks by equi-length complementary wiring between virtual terminal pairs of the functional blocks; and (d) performing automatic wiring of the semiconductor integrated circuit.
A storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the above-described processes (a) to (d) of the process of wiring complementary signals by using the processes of (c) to (c). 12. When wiring between functional blocks having complementary wiring terminal pairs that need to be wired with equal lengths, (a) passing through the center of a straight line connecting two points of the complementary terminal pairs of the functional blocks; A process of obtaining a perpendicular line perpendicular to the straight line; (b) a process of obtaining a point that first intersects a virtual wiring grid outside the functional block on an extension of the perpendicular line as a base point of a virtual terminal pair; (c) a connection destination (D) X of coordinates of two points of a complementary terminal pair in a function block, wherein base points having the shortest linear distance from the base point of the function block are set as a base point pair of each function block.
A process of selecting one of the X or Y directions from the Y grid number difference; (e) a process of calculating a sign of a direction of a relative coordinate of the base point with respect to a center of a straight line connecting two points of the complementary terminal pair; (F) Two points located in the direction and the sign at four intersections of the X-axis line and the Y-axis line of the real wiring grid surrounding the base point are set as the terminal points of the virtual terminal pair, and g) a process of automatically wiring the determined virtual terminal pair and a complementary wiring terminal in the functional block in a wiring layer higher than a wiring layer constituting the functional block in the shortest time; A recording medium on which a program for causing a) to (g) to function on a computer is recorded.