JPH03106054A - Layout design assisiting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To dispense with a modifying operation and to shorten the time required for the layout design of a diagram by a method wherein it is studied that a design rule contravention can be eliminated or not, or a modifying study to eliminate a design rule contravention is carried out, and the studied result is indicated on a graphic display as a modification information. CONSTITUTION:A process performed in a layout modification study section 13 contains a study that the contravention shown by error data can be eliminated or not, and if it is possible to eliminate, a study how a diagram is modified is performed. Therefore, the layout modification study section 13 studies the modification of the layout, reading out necessary data from a diagram data table 21, an error data table 22, and a design rule table 23. The studied result is indicated on a graphic display 30 as a modification information. By this setup, a modification operation can be dispensed with and a time required for the layout design of a diagram can be shortened to improve an operating efficiency.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a layout design support device used for graphic layout design, and in particular to an integrated circuit (IC, LSI, VL
9 [Prior art] Regarding a layout design CAD system suitable for designing mask patterns for SI) Mask patterns for integrated circuits are usually composed of a large number of layers, and in particular, in the case of VLSH, a mask of about 100 layers is used.・
A pattern is needed. These mask pattern figures are used for processing semiconductor substrates such as silicon, and there are many design rules regarding the arrangement relationship between the figures between each mask or between the figures of the own mask. If there is a violation of the design rules, depending on the degree of violation, an element that is supposed to be formed on the silicon substrate may not be formed, or an element with malfunction may be formed.

Therefore, it is important to check whether there is a violation of the design rules between the figures of the mask pattern, and a computer has conventionally been used to check the design rules of the mask pattern.

For example, in the CAD system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-115273, based on the inspection results, parts that violate design rules are surrounded by figures (error figures) and displayed on the CRT screen. In addition, if the content of the violation, for example, the spacing between two shapes a and f violates the design rules, the current spacing between the two shapes a and f and the allowable value according to the design rules will be displayed on the screen. be done. This results in
Based on the displayed content, the operator can perform correction processing by determining the figure whose position needs to be corrected in order to eliminate the violation and the distance the figure must be moved.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technology, only the graphic display of the place where the rule is violated and the details of the violation are displayed as a message, which causes the following problems.

(1) When the operator moves one figure (for example, a) by a distance that clears the tolerance value in order to remove the violation, a new figure is created between the moved figure a and another figure b. Violations of design rules may occur. In other words, one correction work may result in a chain reaction of new violations.

In such a case, according to the above-mentioned conventional technology, each time the position of one figure is moved, an inspection is executed and the details of the violation regarding the new violation location are displayed as an error message, and based on this, an inspection is performed. The problem is that the work efficiency is extremely poor because the process of making corrections must be repeated.

In addition, as a result of correcting the violations that occur one by one as described above, some figures may protrude beyond the reference line such as a drawing frame that demarcates a predetermined area. . In this case, it means that the original violation cannot be resolved depending on the contents of the corrections made up to that point.
There is a problem in that a series of correction work ends up being a waste of effort.

(2) When displaying the shape of a mask pattern on a graphic display such as a CRT screen, the operator usually enlarges a part of the complex and minute mask pattern or places it in the center to make it easier to see the displayed content. Display is performed.

However, if there are multiple design rule violations, after correcting one violation, the operator must scroll the screen multiple times to find the next violation to be corrected. There is a problem of poor work efficiency.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems. In other words, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of correction work to eliminate violations of design rules, shorten the time involved in designing the layout of figures, and improve work efficiency. It is an object of the present invention to provide a layout design support device that can improve the layout design.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a layout design support device that can improve work efficiency by shortening the search time for design rule violations.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the layout design support device of the present invention determines whether the violation can be resolved by correcting the position of the figures when the arrangement relationship between figures violates the design rules. The feature is that the examination results are displayed on a graphic display.

In addition, when the positional relationship between shapes violates the design rules, all related shapes whose positions must be corrected to resolve the violation and the correction details are displayed on the graphic display. I can do something like that. In this case, it is desirable to include the moving direction and moving distance of the position in the display contents in correspondence with the identification display of the figure that needs to be corrected.

In addition, in order to achieve the above-mentioned other objects, the layout design support device of the present invention, when there are a plurality of places in which the arrangement relationship between figures violates the design rules, the layout design support device of the present invention The present invention is characterized by being provided with an error graphic display control section that sequentially positions and displays one of the violation locations in the center of the graphic display.

[Effect]

As constructed in this manner, the layout design support apparatus of the present invention achieves the above-mentioned object of the present invention through the following actions.

When there is a violation of the design rules regarding the positional relationship between the drawings, the operator can immediately see by looking at the graphic display whether the violation can be resolved by correcting the position of the figures.

In addition, if all related figures whose positions need to be corrected and their correction details are displayed on the graphic display, the operator can follow the displayed correction information or take other design conditions into consideration as necessary. This makes it easy to modify the layout of figures. In other words, the operator does not have to consider whether or not modifying the position of one figure will induce a new violation. Furthermore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which, when related violations are corrected one by one, it is ultimately concluded that the first violation cannot be resolved, and the correction work up to that point is completely wasted. For these reasons, the efficiency of graphic layout design is improved.

Additionally, each time a scroll command is given, one of the violation locations is displayed in the center of the graphic display, allowing the operator to search for other uncorrected violation locations while scrolling the screen. Saves time and effort. This further improves work efficiency. Note that the scroll command may be given externally by the operator, or may be given automatically upon completion of the correction process for one violation location.

〔Example〕 Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of a layout design support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this device includes a central processing unit CPUIO, a memory 20, a graphic display 30, data input means 40, and a signal bus 50 connecting these. The detailed structure will be described below, taking as an example the case where it is applied to mask pattern design.

The CPUIO includes the figure editing section 11, the design rule inspection section ■2,
Layout correction consideration section 13, error figure display control section 14
It is composed of: The functions of these parts are realized by respective programs. The memory 20 also includes a graphic data table 2t in which graphic data is stored, an error data table 22 in which error data including error graphic data is stored, and a design rule table 23 in which design rules are stored. . The contents of each data table are configured to be readable and writable from CPULO. The graphic display 30 is, for example, a CR
T is applicable. This graphic display 3
0 is driven in response to commands from the CPU I O, and displays various types of information consisting of figures or character data corresponding to the figure data sent together. The data input means 40 is for inputting graphic data necessary for mask pattern design, and data for modifying figures, etc., using a tablet, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, or a combination of these. It will be constructed.

Here, the basic functions of the graphic editing section 11 will be explained.

The graphic data inputted from the data input means 40 is sent to the CPU.
It is imported into IO's figure editing department ↓. Graphic editing department 11
processes the input graphic data according to a preset processing program, generates content suitable for subsequent layout design support processing, and stores the graphic data in the graphic data table 21.
Store in. The input graphic data includes, for each of the multiple shapes that make up the mask pattern, the coordinate data of the vertices of the shape, the attributes that the shape has, that is, the type of mask layer (for example, polysilicon layer, diffusion layer, gate layer). , P layer, N layer, etc.), number, or screen display color designation. Further, the coordinate data of the vertices inputted by five people corresponds to the position on the screen of the graphic display 30.

This allows the operator to specify the coordinates of any position on the screen using a pointing device, etc.
The coordinate data is input to the graphic editing section 11.

Furthermore, it is well known that commands are input prior to data input so that the graphic editing section 11 can recognize the meaning of the various data input from the data input means 40. It is about. This command includes various commands such as adding new shapes and modifying them. The graphic editing section 11 creates or changes graphic data according to the contents specified by the command, and rewrites the contents of the graphic data table 21 accordingly.

Next, the functions of the design rule inspection section 12 will be explained. First, the design rules regarding the layout of figures are classified into five types as shown in FIG. Space defines the distance between two shapes in a separation relationship, Enclosure defines the distance between two shapes in an inclusive relationship, and Inc defines the degree of overlap between two shapes in an overlapping relationship.
ursion. Width. which defines its own width. This is a Notch that defines the degree of indentation of oneself. In actual VLSI, there are about 40 types of mask layers, and even in the same gate layer shape, there are N-gate transistors and P-gate transistors.
Just as the gate length of a gate transistor differs, the design rules may differ depending on the figure existing in the background.
Therefore, there are actually about 200 design rules. These rules are stored in the design rule table 23.

The design rule inspection department engineer 2 inputs the graphic data table 21 according to an operator's command given from the data input means 40.
The figure data of the designated mask layer is read out, and it is checked whether or not there is a part that violates the design rules between the figures in the group of figures belonging to the mask layer. On this occasion,
For example, the design rules to be applied differ depending on the type of other overlapping mask layers, so this point is also considered. If there is a violation of the design rules, the number of the graphic related to the violation and the content of the violation are stored in the error data table 22 as error data. This error data includes, for example, in the case of a violation of the spacing, the current spacing and the corresponding tolerance value, as well as the coordinate data of the error graphic indicating the area surrounded by the graphic related to the violation.

The contents of this error data are displayed directly above the image of the graphic display 30 by the function of the error graphic display control section 14.

An example of this screen display is shown in FIG. In the figure, rectangular figures a to h are objects to be inspected according to the layout design rules. In addition, the straight line indicated by the symbol ``h'' is a part of the drawing frame where these figures a''h are placed, and corresponds to the reference line.In the illustrated example, as a result of inspection, the S pac of figures a and f is
Since e has become narrower in violation of the rules, the area surrounded by the opposing parts of shapes a and f is the error shape E.
The parts are hatched or colored to make them easier to identify. Additionally, the current interval and tolerance are displayed in a predetermined message area 32 on the screen.

Next, the basic functions of the layout modification consideration section 13 will be explained. This layout modification consideration section 13 can be activated by an inspection end signal from the design rule inspection section 12 or an operator's command input from the data input means 40. The processing in this layout modification consideration section 13 is as follows:
Basically, it involves examining whether it is possible to eliminate the violation shown in the error data and, if possible, investigating which figures should be corrected and how. Therefore, the layout modification consideration section 13 reads necessary data from the graphic data table 21, error data table 22, and design rule table 23, and examines the layout modification according to the procedure described below.

here. The processing contents of the layout modification consideration section 13 will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In addition, the content of the violation shown in FIG. 3 will be explained as an example of the correction target.

(Step SL) In order to resolve the interval violation between figures a and f, attention is paid to figure a, and this figure a is moved to the current interval S. Assume that the movement is made to the left in the figure by the difference ΔS1=S,−Sd between and the allowable interval S1.

(Step S2) Here, when the figure a of interest is corrected by moving it to the left, related figures that are affected by the correction are extracted, and the adjacency graph is created by the procedure shown in FIGS. 6(A) to (D). Create something.

First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a rectangular window 33 whose right side is the left side of the figure of interest a is set. The width is up to the reference line Ω at the left end of the drawing where the mask pattern is placed. Figures b, c, and d existing inside this window 33 are extracted, and a directed adjacency graph is created in which the extracted figures b, c, and d are used as sink nodes, and the target figure a is used as a source node. A determination as to whether a figure exists within the window 13 is made by calculating whether or not a part of the vertex coordinates of the figure is included within the window 13.

Based on the figures b, c, and d extracted in this way, windows 34, 35, and 36 are set in the same manner as above, the figures existing inside these windows 34, 35, and 36 are extracted, and the sixth After passing through the intermediate steps shown in FIGS. 6(B) and 6(C), the directed graph representing the adjacency relationship shown in FIG. 6(D) is finally completed. However, the reference line at the left end of the drawing is the final sink node. Inside the computer, the contents of Fig. 6 (D) are expressed as the table shown in Fig. 7, and the source node is represented as the figure number of interest.
A sink node is stored as an adjacent figure number.

(Step S3) From the adjacency graph of FIG.
The adjacency graph shown in FIG. 8 is created by deleting all branches to nodes that can be reached via . Specifically, the contents of the table are changed as shown in FIG. Note that adjacent level information indicating how many branches can be used to reach the node of the target figure from the source node at the starting point, that is, figure a, is added. Here, when there are multiple routes from the node of figure a to the node of the figure of interest, the maximum value of the number of branches is defined as the adjacent level.

(Step S4) Here, the adjacent level n is set to the initial value "1". (Step S5) Here, attention is paid to the figures (b and C in the example of FIG. 8) corresponding to the node at the adjacent level n (=1).

(Step S6) Here, it is determined whether or not there is an interval S 2 j between figure a and figures b and c, and a figure with ΔS>O. If this determination is NO, it means that the movement modification of the target figure a assumed in step S1 will not affect rule violations with other figures. In this case, the process advances to step S7.

On the other hand, if even one of the determinations in step S6 is YES, the process advances to step S8 in FIG. Example* For example, if the interval S2 between figures a and b is smaller than the allowable value S2, the process proceeds to step S8.

(Step 87) Since it is not necessary to modify other figures in this step, the assumed contents of step S1 are displayed on the graphic display 3O as modification information. Then, the modification consideration process ends.

(Step S8) Here, it is determined whether the adjacent level n is the maximum value.

If YES, step S1. If the answer is No, the process goes to step S9.

(Step S9) Here, it is assumed that in order to eliminate the rule violation of the figure for which the judgment in step 6 was YES, the figure is moved by ΔS. For example, in the example of FIG. 3, if the difference ΔS2 between the current value and the tolerance value of the spacing between figures a and b is a positive value, it is assumed that figure b is moved leftward by ΔS. Then, the adjacent level n is incremented, the process returns to step S5, and the process described above is repeated.

For example, in the example of FIG. 3, the figure with the tangent level n=2 is d, so the figure d is of interest. Then, the process proceeds to step S6, where the distance S between the figure d and the adjacent figure b on the source side is determined.
*The corresponding tolerance value S. Difference △S4=
S4-S4 is determined, and it is determined whether or not the determined ΔS is a positive value.

If the determination is NO, the figure b assumed in step S9
This means that the movement modification of d does not affect rule violations with other figures d. Therefore, in the same manner as described above, the modification consideration process is completed, and the contents of the assumption in step S↓ and the assumption in step S9 are displayed on the graphic display 30 as modification information.

On the other hand, if the determination in step S6 is YES, the fifth
The process proceeds to step S9 via step S8 in the figure. In this step S9, it is assumed that the figure d affected by the rule violation is moved leftward by ΔS4. Then, the adjacent level n is incremented again and the process returns to step S5, and the relationship with the next adjacent level n=3 figure (reference line Q in the example in FIG. 1) is checked to determine whether or not there is a violation of the rules using the same procedure as described above. Inspect. In this inspection, if there is no rule violation, modification by moving the figure d is permitted.

Therefore, in the same manner as described above, the modification consideration process is completed, and the contents of the assumptions made in step S1 and step S9 are displayed on the graphic display 30. Figure 10 shows the state of the screen with this display. Based on the content displayed in the correction information display area 37 shown in the figure, in order to eliminate the first rule violation, that is, the narrow interval between figures a and f, figure a is moved to the left side by Δ.
If you move by S (e.g. 0.5μ), shapes b and d
Since the rule violation spreads to , shapes b and d are respectively
, (e.g. 0.5μ), ΔS4 (e.g. 0.5μ)
You can understand at a glance that you have to move only to the left.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the operator can immediately know from the contents of the correction information display area 37 that the rule violation of figures a and f can be resolved by correcting the layout of the figures. Further, the operator can use the data input means 40 to input instructions for modifying graphic data according to the contents of the modification information display area 37. Thereby, the graphic editing section 11 modifies the corresponding data in the graphic data table 21. Note that the graphic data modification can be automatically performed according to the contents of step S7 without operator intervention.

(Step SIO) When the determination in step S8 is YES, that is,
If a new violation has occurred as a result of the judgment in step S6, and the adjacency level n of the figure involved in that judgment is the maximum value, the figure cannot be moved, so the figure assumed in step S1 cannot be moved. In some cases, this means that the first violation cannot be cured.

Therefore, in this case, in step S10, all the modifications considered so far are cancelled. Then, by focusing on the other figure f of the two figures related to the first rule violation shown in Figure 3, and moving this figure f of interest to the right in Figure 3, can the rule violation be corrected? I will consider whether or not. This modification consideration process is the same as the process from step 81 to step S9 described above.

(Steps Sll, S12) Based on the results of this process, it is determined whether or not the violation cannot be resolved by correcting the rightward movement. If NO, the violation can be resolved, so the results of the correction studies in steps 81 to S9 are displayed on the graphic display 30. On the other hand, if the answer is YES, a message is displayed to the effect that the first rule violation cannot be resolved by moving the figure (step 12). The state of this display screen is shown in Figure 11. Note that the correction information can be displayed as shown in FIG. 12 instead of as shown in FIG. 10. In other words, the correction contents of the shape that needs to be corrected can be
The images are displayed one by one in the order of (A), (B), and (C) in the figure. In this case, the correction information in Figure (A). Once the operator has made the corrections as per the content,
The display is sequentially switched to the display of correction information (B) and (C).

? In addition, as shown in Figure 13, figures a and b that need to be moved
, d can be emphasized, the moving direction can be displayed with an arrow, and the moving distance can also be displayed together.

Here, window 3 explained in step S2 of FIG.
Another specific example of a method for extracting a figure existing inside 3 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. Note that this extraction method is a known method. First, the data structure of graphic data will be explained using FIGS. 14(A) and 14(B). That is, figure G (G1, G.G
The memory 25 in which graphic data of 3...) is stored is divided into a plurality of field block memories FBM (FBMl
, FBM2, ...). Assume that graphic data of graphics G1, G2, and G3 are now stored in the field block memory FBI. These shapes G■～G3
Consider the smallest rectangular area that includes , and let this rectangular area be the field block FBI.

The top right and bottom left vertex coordinates (Pmax, Pain) of this field block FBI are defined as the label of the field block memory FBM1.

Similarly, for each figure G, consider the minimum rectangular area that includes the own figure, and define the top right and bottom left vertex coordinates (Pn+a, Pn+in) of the rectangle as the label of the figure. These labels are stored in memory 25. To extract a figure existing inside a certain rectangle, use the above labels (Pmax, Pmjn) and
Perform the procedure shown in Figure 5. That is, when extracting a group of figures included in a certain window 33, first, the field block FB having a common area with the window 33 is extracted.
, label of field block FB and window 33
Extract using the coordinate data of Next, paying attention to this extracted Fino Redo block FB, the graphics present in the window 33 are extracted using the labels of the graphics included in this Fino Redo block FB. According to such an extraction method, a figure existing within the window 33 can be extracted with a small amount of arithmetic processing. Here, the functions of the error graphic display control section 14 shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. As described above, the basic function is to display the error figure E related to the violation location stored in the error data table 22 and the content of the violation on the graphic display 30 based on the inspection result by the design rule inspection unit 12.
Controls what is displayed on the screen. In addition to these features,
In this embodiment, some violation points that have been discovered by the design rule inspection unit 12 and have not yet been corrected are positioned in the center of the screen of the graphic display 30, and are automatically It is designed to be displayed. In order to achieve such a function, first, the error data stored in the error data table 22 includes error figures E. In addition to the number and vertex coordinates of the figure, as shown in Figure 6, the center coordinates of the figure (X m ty + a
) is now stored. The error figure display control unit 14 then displays the center coordinates (x., y.) on the drawing.
In order to display the image so that it coincides with the center of the screen, coordinate conversion processing is performed as described below.

First, as shown in FIG. 17, consider a fixed rectangular display area 27 (corresponding to the screen to be displayed) centered on the error graphic E1 on the drawing 24.

The coordinates of the lower left apex and the upper right apex of this display area 27 are
Screen 3 of the corresponding graphic display 30
Let the coordinates of the lower left corner and upper right corner of 8 be (o, ○) and (x
,y). Further, if the horizontal width of the figure 24 is W and the vertical width is H, and the horizontal width of the area to be displayed is 2ΔX and the vertical width is 2Δy, the display area can be found.

X B ” X @1△x+ yB=y.1ΔyX T
=X wr + ΔX − yT = '/m + Δy Here, ΔX and Δy are each set to arbitrary values that satisfy the following equations.

yr) and the screen coordinates (○, ○) and (X, Y), respectively.
By controlling the display in accordance with
to be displayed aligned with the center of the screen.

The display order of the error figures E1 is changed sequentially from the top to the bottom of the error data table 22 in FIG. 16, for example.

As a result, according to this embodiment, the violation locations are sequentially displayed on the graphic display 30 without the operator having to perform a scrolling operation.

As a result, when determining whether there is a violation that requires correction, it is possible to save the effort of searching the entire drawing one by one.
The work efficiency of figure editing is improved.

Note that in FIG. 17, illustrations of figures related to the mask pattern are omitted to make the figure easier to read.

In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiment explained design rule violation and correction regarding the horizontal direction of a drawing, it can be applied in exactly the same way to design rule violation and correction regarding the vertical direction of a drawing.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to examine whether or not a violation of design rules can be resolved, or to consider modifications to eliminate it, and the results are displayed on a graphic display as modification information. As a result, it is possible to save the operator's effort in correction work, shorten the time involved in designing the layout of figures, and improve work efficiency.

Furthermore, since the uncorrected violation locations are displayed one by one on the graphic display using a scroll command, it is possible to shorten the search time for violation locations and improve work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a diagram explaining the basic rules of design rules, Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of displaying design rule violations, and Figures 4 and 5. FIG. 6 (A) is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the layout modification consideration section.
- (D) are diagrams explaining the method of creating an adjacency graph, Fig. 7 is an example of an adjacency node table, Fig. 8 is the adjacency graph finally obtained, and Fig. 9 is an adjacency graph showing the storage state of adjacency levels. An example of a node table, and FIGS. 10, 11, 12, and 13 are diagrams showing the display state of modification information obtained from layout modification studies, respectively.
Figures 14 (A) and (B) and Figure 15 are explanatory diagrams of the method for extracting figures existing in the window, Figure 16 is a diagram showing part of the contents of the error figure data table, and Figure 17 is FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a method for displaying an error figure in the center of the screen. 10...CPU, 11...Graphic editing department, 12...
Design rule inspection unit, l3... Layout correction consideration unit, 14... Error figure display control unit, 20... Memory, 21... Figure data table, 22... Error figure data table, 23... - Design rule table, 24... Drawing, 30... Graphic display 32... Message area, 37... Modification information display area, 40.
...Data input means. Fig. 3 Fig. 5 Fig. 6 Fig. 8 Fig. 8 Tuft ♂ Tuft l Tuft l Collapse〃 /κ'7j ノA:71) j</17 A尤〃O
Figure 11 Figure 14 (A) (B) Figure 15 Figure 17 (0.0)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When the arrangement relationship between figures violates the design rules, it is examined whether the violation can be resolved by correcting the position of the figures, and the results of the examination are displayed on a graphic display. A layout design support device comprising a layout modification consideration section for displaying a layout. 2. When the positional relationship between figures violates the design rules, all related figures whose positions must be corrected to resolve the violation and the correction details of their positions are displayed on the graphic display. Layout design support device. 3. The layout design support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the modification content includes a moving direction and a moving distance of the position in correspondence with the identification display of the figure that requires the modification. 4. When there are multiple places that violate the design rules regarding the arrangement relationships between figures, one of the multiple places that violate the rules is sequentially positioned and displayed in the center of the graphic display every time a scroll command is given. A layout design support device including an error graphic display control section. 5. It has a CPU, a memory, and a graphic display, and the CPU includes the functions of a design rule inspection section and a layout modification consideration section formed by a program, and the design rule inspection section reads data from the memory. The graphic data and design rules of a group of figures to be inspected are read out, and the layout relationship between each figure is inspected for the presence or absence of a violation of the design rules. A layout design support device that examines whether or not a violation that has occurred can be resolved by correcting the position of a related figure, and displays the results of the examination on a graphic display. 6. It has a CPU, a memory, and a graphic display, and the CPU includes the functions of a design rule inspection section and a layout modification consideration section formed by a program, and the design rule inspection section reads data from the memory. The figure data and design rules of the group of figures to be inspected are read out, the arrangement relationship between each figure is inspected for the presence or absence of a violation of the design rules, and the error data regarding the violation location is stored in the memory, and the layout is corrected. The examination unit reads out the error data, figure data, and design rules in the memory, extracts all related figures whose positions need to be corrected in order to eliminate the violation, and processes these extracted figures. 1. A layout design support apparatus, wherein the content of correction of a position of a graphic is displayed on the graphic display, and the graphic to be corrected and the content of the correction thus obtained are displayed on the graphic display. 7. It has a CPU, a memory, and a graphic display, and the CPU includes the functions of a design rule inspection section, a layout correction consideration section, and an error graphic display control section formed by a program, and The inspection unit reads out the graphic data and design rules of a group of shapes to be inspected from the memory, checks whether or not there is a violation of the design rules regarding the arrangement relationship between each graphic, and stores error data regarding the violation location in the memory. The layout correction consideration section reads out the error data, figure data, and design rules in the memory, and calculates all related figures whose positions need to be corrected in order to eliminate the violation. the error figure display control unit: Each time a scroll command is given, one of the plurality of error data stored in the memory is sequentially read, and a group of figures related to the read error data is positioned and displayed at the center of the graphic display. A layout design support device that became popular. 8. The layout design support apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the modification contents include a moving direction and a moving distance of the position in correspondence with the identification display of the figure that requires the modification. 9. In displaying the correction information on the graphic display, for each figure that needs to be corrected, the identification display of the figure and the details of the correction are sequentially displayed on the screen. 7, 8
, 9. The layout design support device according to any one of .