Summary

We discussed all the IC BE design steps and tools. We have gone from design methodologies all the way to first silicon.

Physical layout includes floorplanning, placement, and routing. Floorplanning arranges the major blocks on the chip. Placement arranges the smaller blocks or cells inside the blocks.

Routing traces out the wiring paths. There are several routing styles. Global routing connects major blocks, and detail routing handles the wiring inside blocks down to the transistor level. Channel routers are used for standard cell blocks.

BE design has many checking tools. Electrical rule check (ERC) checks electrical rules for gate interconnection. Design rule check (DRC) checks physical spacing and sizing rules for layout and placement. ...

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