JPH10247687A - Layout compaction method for semiconductor integrated circuit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively delete the vacant space of the functional block of an analog IC while the semiconductor element arranging state in an input layer, particularly, the adjacent relation between transistor elements is maintained or to avoid the contravention to a design rule at the time of compacting the layout of the functional block. SOLUTION: A layout compaction method for semiconductor integrated circuit includes a process 101 for extracting transistor gathering parts from a layout on a semiconductor substrate and dividing the extracted parts into groups, a process 102 for performing compaction in the extracted groups, and a process 103 for performing compaction between the transistor groups and the other semiconductor elements without destroying the internal shapes of the compacted transistor groups.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a function block in which semiconductor elements are arranged by computer processing when designing a mask layout of a function block of an analog IC, or the arrangement position of the semiconductor elements in the function block. The present invention relates to a layout compaction method for a semiconductor integrated circuit that automatically removes empty spaces between semiconductor elements to minimize the functional block area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional layout compaction method for a semiconductor integrated circuit will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of an input layout of layout compaction of a semiconductor integrated circuit, and FIG. 16 shows a layout resulting from layout compaction of a conventional semiconductor integrated circuit in the input layout. 2 and 16, reference numeral 1 denotes a functional block frame, 2 denotes a transistor element, 3 denotes a resistor element, 5 denotes a layout restriction between semiconductor elements described in a circuit diagram or automatically extracted from the circuit diagram, and 9 denotes a space between semiconductor elements. Connection information.

A functional block 1 shown in FIG. 2 is a functional block in which semiconductor elements are arranged by computer processing or a functional block in which the arrangement positions of semiconductor elements in the functional blocks are manually corrected. 16: Reduce free space in functional blocks (compaction) or avoid design rule violations between semiconductor elements in functional blocks
This is the layout resulting from executing (decompaction). In this example, one-dimensional compaction is used as a compaction algorithm, and after compaction is performed in the vertical direction, compaction is performed in the horizontal direction.

[0004]

However, in the conventional method, there is a problem that the arrangement shape between the semiconductor elements in the input layout, particularly the adjacent relation between the transistor elements cannot be maintained.

The input layout is a function block in which semiconductor elements are automatically arranged by computer processing, or the arrangement position of semiconductor elements in the function block is manually corrected. In the functional block of the analog IC,
Since the power supply trunk lines are arranged above and below the functional blocks, it is considered that the arrangement form as shown in FIG. 17 leads to a good arrangement / wiring result. The power supply mains (V
A resistor connected to the power supply main line (GND side) is placed below the functional block (region 12), and a transistor is placed between the upper and lower resistance regions 11 and 12 (region 10). Those having a large resistance value that cannot be accommodated in the regions 11 and 12 and the capacitance are arranged on the left and right (regions 13 and 14).

Normally, all the functional blocks designed in this manner are arranged on a semiconductor substrate, and connections between the blocks are made to form a one-chip analog IC. In this case, the heights of the functional blocks are uniform. In many cases, it is desirable to reduce the height of the functional blocks until the layout shape is broken by layout compaction. Automatically generated in consideration of the size). If compaction is performed while disposing the arrangement shape, conversely, in the next step, connection between semiconductor elements, there is a possibility that the wiring ratio may be reduced or the wiring shape may be deteriorated.

When layout compaction is performed on a manually corrected functional block that has been manually arranged, it is particularly necessary to avoid breaking the semiconductor element layout.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a layout compaction method for a semiconductor integrated circuit in which an empty space of a functional block is effectively deleted while maintaining an adjacent relation between transistor elements, and a design rule violation between the semiconductor elements is avoided. And

[0009]

To achieve the above object, a layout compaction method for a semiconductor integrated circuit according to the present invention comprises the steps of extracting and grouping a set of transistors from a layout; The method includes a step of performing compaction and a step of performing compaction between the transistor group and other semiconductor elements without breaking the shape inside the compacted transistor group, and maintains an arrangement restriction between the semiconductor elements.

[0010] With this configuration, an empty space of a functional block is effectively deleted while maintaining the arrangement shape between the semiconductor elements in the input layout, particularly, the adjacent relation between the transistor elements, or the design rule between the semiconductor elements is avoided. be able to.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of a layout compaction process of a semiconductor integrated circuit in a first embodiment. First, in step 101, a group of transistors is automatically extracted and grouped.

[0012] A functional block in which semiconductor elements are automatically arranged by computer processing or a layout of transistors is extracted from an input layout as shown in FIG. 2 in which the arrangement positions of semiconductor elements in the functional blocks are manually corrected. , And the transistor group frame 4 in FIG. FIG. 4 shows the result of grouping them.

Next, as step 102, compaction inside the extracted transistor group is performed. At this time, first, the horizontal arrangement of the transistor elements (transistor rows) 6
a to 6e are extracted. The arrangement positions of the transistors are corrected so that the arrangement y coordinates are aligned for each of the transistor rows and the violation of the rule in the horizontal direction is eliminated. The inside of the modified transistor row is fixed, and the space between the transistor rows is compacted in the vertical direction. FIG. 5 shows the result of performing these processes.

Further, compaction is performed in the lateral direction. At this time, the transistors continuously arranged in the transistor row are moved without changing their relative positions. In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, in consideration of connection information 9 between semiconductor elements, adjacent element terminals at the same potential are arranged at positions where they can be connected by a straight line as much as possible. FIG. 7 shows the result of performing these processes.

Finally, as step 103, the shape inside the transistor group compacted in the above process is
Compaction between the transistor group and other semiconductor elements is performed without breaking (FIG. 8). At this time, since the shape inside the transistor group is not changed, unnecessary data is deleted to improve the speed of computer processing. Only the external shape data 7 (FIG. 9) of the transistor group and the element terminal data 8a to 8f (FIG. 9) connected to other semiconductor elements are created.

The compaction between the transistor group data created in this way and other semiconductor elements is shown in FIG.
Perform as shown in 10. At this time, as already described in the compaction of the transistor group, in consideration of the connection information 9 between the semiconductor elements, adjacent element terminals at the same potential are arranged at positions where they can be connected by a straight line as much as possible. FIG. 11 shows the result of executing these processes.

(Embodiment 2) FIGS. 12 to 15 show Embodiment 2.
5 shows compaction inside the transistor group. In the transistor group according to the first embodiment, only the transistor element is included. In the second embodiment, other semiconductor elements (here, resistors) are arranged inside the group or on the group frame. Such is the case.

FIG. 12 shows an input layout, in which 3b is a resistor completely included in the transistor group, and 3a is a resistor existing on the transistor frame. The process up to the extraction of the transistor rows is the same as in the first embodiment. As in the example of FIG. 12, when another semiconductor element exists on the lower side of the transistor group frame, the resistance 3a is also taken into consideration when changing the arrangement of the elements in the lowermost transistor row. Change so that there is no horizontal rule violation. FIG. 13 shows the result of such a change. If it exists on the upper side of the transistor group frame, the above processing is performed on the transistor row arranged at the uppermost position.

In the following transistor rows, the first embodiment
Is the same as FIG. 14 shows the result of the change in the arrangement of the second transistor row. When the arrangement change is completed for all the transistor rows, the inside of the transistor row is fixed, and compaction between the transistor row and the resistor 3b completely included in the transistor group is executed. FIG. 15 shows the result of this processing.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the steps of extracting and grouping a set of transistors from a layout, performing the compaction inside the extracted transistor group, and maintaining the shape inside the compacted transistor group are performed. And a step of performing compaction between the transistor group and other semiconductor elements, and effectively removes the empty space of the functional block while maintaining the arrangement shape between the semiconductor elements in the input layout, particularly the adjacent relation between the transistor elements. Or design rule violations between semiconductor devices can be avoided. In addition, since the arrangement can be performed in consideration of the connection relationship between the semiconductor elements while performing the above-described operation, the number of wirings can be reduced in the next wiring processing. This produces an effect that layout compaction can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a flow of a layout compaction process of a semiconductor integrated circuit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an input layout diagram according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing extraction of a set of transistors in step 101 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing extraction of a transistor row in step 102;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a result of vertical compaction in a transistor group in step 102;

FIG. 6 is a view showing semiconductor element connection information within a transistor group in step 102;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a compaction result within a transistor group in step 102;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an arrangement of elements in a transistor group in step 103;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a result of creating external shape data and connection terminal data of a transistor group in step 103;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an input layout of a transistor group and other semiconductor elements in step 103;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a compaction result of the transistor group and other semiconductor elements in step 103.

FIG. 12 is an input layout diagram when another semiconductor element is included in a transistor group according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a compaction execution result of a first transistor row in the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a compaction execution result of the first and second transistor rows in the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an overall compaction result of the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a compaction result in a conventional layout compaction method for a semiconductor integrated circuit.

FIG. 17 is a structural diagram of an analog LSI module.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Functional block frame, 2: Transistor element, 3:
4: transistor group frame, 5: semiconductor element layout restriction, 6 a to 6 e: transistor row, 7: transistor group outer shape data, 8 a to 8 f: transistor group terminal data, 9: connection information between semiconductor elements.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A layout compaction method for a semiconductor integrated circuit device which minimizes an empty space between semiconductor elements laid out on a semiconductor substrate, wherein a step of extracting a group of transistors from a layout and grouping the transistors is performed. A process of performing compaction inside the extracted transistor group while maintaining the layout constraints between the semiconductor elements automatically extracted from the circuit diagram or the transistor group without breaking the shape inside the compacted transistor group. And a step of performing compaction between other semiconductor elements.