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Technical Paper

Automating fill back-annotation in the custom layout design environment

Three squares in a row. First square contains dark blue rectangles representing device polygons. Second square has light blue rectangles representing fill shapes. Third square shows both sets of rectangles, representing fill insertion in layout.
In custom integrated circuit (IC) block design flows, understanding the impact of inserted fill on design performance is crucial, but running verification and simulation outside the design environment complicates error identification and correction. Using an automated fill insertion and back-annotation flow within the design environment allows designers to reduce complexities in the IC design process. The Calibre Interactive fill insertion with back-annotation flow enables designers to launch fill insertion and write fill data directly to the OpenAccess database directly from the Calibre Interactive GUI, simplifying and speeding up the process. Invoking this flow with a Calibre Interactive runset simplifies and speeds up fill data import and updates during subsequent runs, offering design teams significant benefits by improving designer productivity while reducing design flow complexity and risk.

Automating Calibre SmartFill fill insertion and back-annotation in custom IC design improves productivity while reducing design flow complexity and risk

Because fill can significantly affect performance, custom block designers must be able to place and analyze the impact of fill on their designs to ensure the block will perform as intended when inserted in a larger IC layout. With the Calibre Interactive interface, Calibre® YieldEnhancer™ SmartFill advanced fill functionality can be used in conjunction with all major design tools to place optimized fill in layouts. Creating an automated reusable fill insertion flow, including back-annotation to the design database, allows custom IC designers to concentrate on their core tasks while ensuring Calibre quality results.

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