Synthetic layout generation empowers DRM and DRC code qualification flows

The design rules and design rule manual (DRM) qualification processes are getting overcritical in the newest technology nodes where the rules become exceptionally complicated. Today's flows that relies on one single quality assurance (QA) technique to detect all possible issues in rule decks and DRMs falls short of assuring design rules’ correctness and DRM clarity.

Many varied and credible QA flows are now essential to qualify the design rules’ reliability and accuracy under variant conditions. Each QA flow requires having complex designs and test patterns that cover all problematic scenarios and corner cases specially while the constraints imposed on the design rules become more numerous. The Calibre synthetic layout generator, Calibre LSG, provides CAD teams and QA engineers with various ranges of unexpected patterns that stress the design rules versus DRM descriptions, and generates product-like designs that represent the typical design cases.

This paper presents the Calibre LSG synthetic pattern/layout generation approach to high quality and high coverage DRM and DRC qualification. The generated patterns flow into a post-generation-analysis-fix step that helps discover and analyze issues while initial design rule and DRC code is under development. Guided random generation of legal layout patterns produces simple and complex pattern configurations to challenge the accuracy and consistency between the original intention of the complex design rules and DRC rule deck. The post-generation-analysis-fix step helps identify locations of potential discrepancy. Flushing out these discrepancies and ambiguities drives enhancements to converge on robust DRM documentation and consistency between design rule intent and the DRC run set implementation from early development throughout the life cycle of process node deployment.